![]() ![]() It’s a short book, but of course, there’s plenty more to learn, so there’s a suggested reading list with entries spanning from Plato through Peter Singer. What follows is a little bit of everything: corny jokes, metaphysics, Descartes, utilitarianism, the philosophy of language, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Dave Barry, Machiavelli, politically incorrect metajokes, Karl Marx, and Groucho Marx. What the philosopher calls an insight, the gagster calls a zinger. That’s because philosophy and jokes proceed from the same impulse: to confound our sense of the way things are, to flip our worlds upside down, and to ferret out hidden, often uncomfortable, truths about life. The construction and payoff of jokes and the construction and payoff of philosophical concepts are made out of the same stuff. ![]() The authors (two friends who met in the 1950s as Philosophy majors at Harvard University) explain their project (which they call “philogagging”) thus: If you’re well versed in the classics, or have dim memories of Introduction to Philosophical Thought 101, or if you just want to be entertained (and possibly enlightened), this accessible book may appeal to you. ![]() BOOK: Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar–Understanding Philosophy Through JokesĮqual parts smart and ridiculous, Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar is one of those books that does exactly what it sets out to do…illustrate philosophical concepts through humor. ![]()
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