Philosophy Made Funny with Plato and a Platypus

"Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar" is a short (less than 200 words) but entertaining look at philosophy through the lens of humor. It was written by a couple of guys named Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein who just happen to have degrees in philosophy from Harvard. While this book succeeds admirably at explaining a number of complex philosophical ideas, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is completely new to the world of philosophy. For total philosophical newbie's I'd recommend either "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder or The Teaching Company's "Great Ideas in Philosophy" course. Once you've gotten your philosophical feet wet be sure to pick up a copy of "Plato and a platypus."

"Plato and a Platypus" doesn't spend much time delving into the history of philosophical thought, but rather jumps right into the meat of the matter and touches ten important philosophical topics. The book starts with metaphysics and covers some of the big questions like "Why are we here?" and "Does the universe have a purpose?" and "Do we have free will?" Next is a section on logic, including a discussion of several of the major logical fallacies. There is a chapter devoted to epistemology, otherwise known as the theory of knowledge. Or to put it more simply, why do you think you know what you know? Philosophy and ethics (what laws are right and where do we get them?) and the philosophy of religion (how do we know that God exists or doesn't?) are covered next. Existentialism, or how are existence creates our essence. The philosophy of language covers how our use of language affects our thoughts, lives and philosophy itself. The section on social and political philosophy discusses how the state is organized and why. Finally, relativity (as made famous by Einstein) and meta-philosophy (or the philosophy of philosophy) are highlighted.

The major strength of this book is that it describes all major points though both plain English and the use of humor. Many jokes are also explained for those of us too slow to figure out just how they pertained to philosophy in the first place. The varieties of humor used throughout the book include cartoons, one liners, comic dialogue and funny stories. My personal favorite is the portrait of a 'ding an sich' or 'thing in itself.' The only real problem I can find with this book is that it's just too short. There is a lot more philosophical ground to cover and a lot more sidesplitting jokes to be made. In conclusion this book is a short easy read that will both educate and amuse you.