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| Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes | 
| Authors: Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein
Publisher: Abrams Image
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy New: $10.97
You Save: $7.98 (42%)
New (5) from $10.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  125 reviews
Sales Rank: 77484
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 4.9 x 0.8
Dewey Decimal Number: 102.07
ASIN: B001990I7Q
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new! Beautiful! May have a small remainder mark (ink mark) along the edge. gift quality, crisp, clean, multiple copies available, prompt shipping, excellent service.
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| Customer Reviews:
Rollicking Good! May 7, 2008
Buy this book. Rollicking good, laugh-out-loud fun! Cathcart and Klein (actually sounds like a comedy team, doesn't it?) are just delightful to read. I've always believed that humor can be a great teacher, and you will assuredly sharpen your knowledge of both philosophy and wit within these pages.
A light, engaging introduction to big ideas April 29, 2008
I purchased this book because I was considering using it as a supplemental text for an introduction to philosophy text for college freshman. The book does well to make some deep philosophical ideas accessible to readers unimmersed in western philosophy, and it does it in a most enjoyable way, Chapters are organized on the basis of different fields in philosophy (epistemology, ethics, religion, etc.). My wife, herself not naturally drawn to philosophy, laughed aloud at many of the jokes I recounted from the book. Ultimately my co-professor and I decided against using the book; some of the more off-color jokes made us move in another direction. Nevertheless, I consider this book a nice addition to the library of any reader who is curious about the philosophical life.
 What sounds like a great idea, fizzles in the execution... March 24, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I loved the idea of this book when it was first pitched by my book club. Perhaps I set my expectations too high, because I was somewhat disappointed when I read the book.
The basic problem is that in the end, despite conceptual similarities, the jokes get in the way of the philosophy, and vice versa. The treatment of philosophical subjects is both discontinuous and somewhat superficial, due to the need to insert a joke every couple of paragraphs, and the need to focus on only those ideas which can be linked to this joke. The net result is a little bit like reading a book that is missing a page every now and then... transitions from topic to topic are not very smooth and the discussion seems incomplete somehow.
Similarly, the choice of jokes is hampered by the need to pick jokes that actually relate to the philosophical concept at hand (as opposed to picking jokes based on freshness and humor alone). About 50% of the jokes in the book I had already read or heard, before I ever picked up this book...
On the positive side, this book is short, and very easy to read. It is quite entertaining, and even thought-provoking in a few places. People who already have enough knowledge of philosophy to fill in the gaps will probably enjoy this book most. Current students of philosphy might find it quite hilarious...
On the other hand, this is probably not the funniest book you will read this year (I hope!). And it certainly is not a recommended overview of philosphical thought, even for the most casual learner. If you go in with either of those expectations, you will probably be disappointed like I was...
Great concept, mediocre execution March 22, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I love the idea, and it's not a bad book, but it's not as hilarious or as illuminating as I'd expected. Maybe the problem is that I know too many scholars who are really funny, so my standards were set pretty high. It's an enjoyable read and a completely painless introduction to philosophy, though, so if you're interested at all, it's probably worth buying. And as you see from the other reviewers, lots of people found it marvelous. I found it good, but not marvelous.
Entertaining, but disappointing March 5, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is an entertaining little book that is a quick, funny read. The authors' premise-- that it's possible to explicate most philosophical principles by telling jokes-- is a clever idea. Their tone is just right for the book, too. Unfortunately, in the end the entertainment is really all that there is in the book. It doesn't offer even a superficial survey of basic philosophy.
It seems to me that whenever the authors had to decide how to approach some philosophical point they were going to discuss, they always opted to include another joke or two, as opposed to some solid explanation. I actually liked quite a few of the jokes, though there were a lot of duds, too. Further, the authors clearly wanted to produce a short book, and that led to shallow treatments of many points.
It isn't that I disliked the book. To the contrary, I actually enjoyed reading it. However, it was a disappointment, because it seems to me they missed a golden opportunity to do something really unusual and special. Many-- OK, almost all-- books about philosophy are intended for people who already have some background, and they're generally pretty dry. By using humor the way they did, the authors could have written the book that bridged the gap between philosophy majors and "regular" people.
But they didn't quite do the job. In summary, it's a likable, entertaining book with a great premise. But the authors just didn't pull it off as well as they could have-- or should have.
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