Philosophy and Jokes
Jan. 20th, 2008 09:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
debgeislerOne of the best Christmas presents I got this year was the book Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar...Understanding philosophy through jokes. This little tome by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein really does a grand job of explaining philosophy -- but with the authors' tongues planted so firmly in their cheeks that they may never talk right again.
With chapters on metaphysics (eschewed by modern philosophers), logic, epistemology, the philosophy of language, and meta-philosophy, the book is a delightful romp through Western philosophy. And it is funny precisely because the authors do understand the field.
If you were, like me, dragged kicking and screaming through philosophy in graduate school (where it was unavoidable, given my discipline), you'll find Plato and a Platypus absolutely hysterical.
I may have to get Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington, which looks at political doublespeak. :-)
With chapters on metaphysics (eschewed by modern philosophers), logic, epistemology, the philosophy of language, and meta-philosophy, the book is a delightful romp through Western philosophy. And it is funny precisely because the authors do understand the field.
If you were, like me, dragged kicking and screaming through philosophy in graduate school (where it was unavoidable, given my discipline), you'll find Plato and a Platypus absolutely hysterical.
I may have to get Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington, which looks at political doublespeak. :-)