I greatly enjoyed this little gem. It's a nice refresher for those of us who haven't taken a philosophy course in a while, and it deftly weaves the jokes into the text to illustrate each section's philosophy. Humorous prose, structural nods to Plato, tongue-in-cheek accounts of history: this book offers enjoyment on multiple levels. It's more an overview than an in-depth account, but it's​ well worth reading. ( )

This book is a fun read with jokes that illustrate the points.

I am not a philosopher. I am not asking the fundamental questions: Whay am I here? Where did I come from? I already have answers to those questions. I don't wonder if everything I see and hear is an illusion. I am not a philosopher. I have moved from such questions to working on what should I do? What should I be?

I remember when I was a youth I read a scholarly article in Scientific American reporting on research that showed that to sand out a scratch, you had to sand as deep as the scratch. I was excited to learn that, because I had been wondering about it. But to my dad, it was obvious that you have to sand as deep as the scratch is to get it out.

When I was working on an MBA. I took a finance class. The second week, the profesor ask: 'What is money?' The class was silent - that hadn't been in the assigned reading. Then he answered his own question: 'We really don't know.' I began thinking: I have children in elementaray school. They all know what money is. And here is this graduate school professor who doesn't know what money is. In elementary school, they have "all about" books that are about 1 cm thick. Titles such as: "All About Fish", "All About Electricity" are at my local library. Then in college we get books like: Introduction to Partial Differential Equations. They only introduce us to partial differential equations, and are 5 cm thick.

The book gets to this point on page 182: "We never hear about hairdressers pondering: 'What is haridressing?' If a hairdresser doesn't know what hairdressing is, he's in the wrong line of work."

I cannot be a philosopher. Long ago I found answers to those questions.
There is no need to be lost and confused - the answers are available. For example: http://www.mormon.org/ ( )

It achieved its goal of explaining philosophy to the layman. But I wouldn't go out of my way to reccomend it to friends. ( )

I've been a casual reader of philosophy since my dad gave me a copy of "Thales to Dewey" when I was a senior in high school. I mention this only because I'm not sure if the jokes were funnier to me because I was familiar with most of the philosophical points they were illustrating. Either way, one isn't going to walk away from this book knowing a great deal about philosophy. But it might take the scary/snobby edge off of the subject and allow one to more comfortably take up reading a good philosophy book. ( )

understanding philosophy through jokes

A wonderful, brief, summary and overview of philosophy through the usage of jokes. Written well, both with the jokes for its humor and how it pertains and explains philosophy, from the beginning up until the modern era. ( )

An enjoyable read that helped pass the time during a long flight to Costa Rica ( )

This book was a gift from an anonymous benefactor. You cannot learn any philosophy from it and it might confuse what understanding you already have. Many of the jokes are Jewish jokes (i.e. jokes that Jews tell) that were already in my repertoire and some of these are true classics, but a few of the jokes are not usable in today's world. You can read the whole thing in a short time, and I think you will find several jokes that you will like unless you are humorless. ( )

Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes ( )

I quite liked this one, it talked about philosophy and gave examples of it through jokes. ( )

I learned some new and fascinating things, but I cannot say it was a delightful way to do so. ( )

Great fun! I really enjoyed this quick read. ( )

"Meh. Good enough." - Mediocrates
Well, better than that! Definitely not highfalutin, definitely not laugh out loud, but definitely fun. ( )

I quite liked the jokes but I'm not sure I learned anything about philosophy. ( )

An adept and lucid presentation of many of the main ideas throughout the history of philosophy. I would've appreciated a bit more information on Eastern philosophy and the ideas behind feminism, but this slim volume does an excellent job of presenting philosophy as encountered by those in the authors'---and my own---day-to-day Western existence. ( )

I guess the idea of the book was to present philosophical topics through humor and jokes. I can't say the book made me a better philosopher or a better joke teller, but I had some laughs while reading the book, so who cares. ( )

This book is a fun read with jokes that illustrate the points.

I am not a philosopher. I am not asking the fundamental questions: Whay am I here? Where did I come from? I already have answers to those questions. I don't wonder if everything I see and hear is an illusion. I am not a philosopher. I have moved from such questions to working on what should I do? What should I be?

I remember when I was a youth I read a scholarly article in Scientific American reporting on research that showed that to sand out a scratch, you had to sand as deep as the scratch. I was excited to learn that, because I had been wondering about it. But to my dad, it was obvious that you have to sand as deep as the scratch is to get it out.

When I was working on an MBA. I took a finance class. The second week, the profesor ask: 'What is money?' The class was silent - that hadn't been in the assigned reading. Then he answered his own question: 'We really don't know.' I began thinking: I have children in elementaray school. They all know what money is. And here is this graduate school professor who doesn't know what money is. In elementary school, they have "all about" books that are about 1 cm thick. Titles such as: "All About Fish", "All About Electricity" are at my local library. Then in college we get books like: Introduction to Partial Differential Equations. They only introduce us to partial differential equations, and are 5 cm thick.

The book gets to this point on page 182: "We never hear about hairdressers pondering: 'What is haridressing?' If a hairdresser doesn't know what hairdressing is, he's in the wrong line of work."

I cannot be a philosopher. Long ago I found answers to those questions.
There is no need to be lost and confused - the answers are available. For example: http://www.mormon.org/ ( )

Wonderful introduction to philosophy as illustrated by humor.
( )

Great book to introduce someone to philosophy. ( )

While many people are interested in learning about philosophy, actually doing something about it often results in rolling eyes. In Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar : Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes, Thomas Cathcart, Daniel Klein use jokes to explain various philosophical theories.

For example, For Inductive Logic, the situation is Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on a camping trip and spending the night in a tent. At one point, Holmes wakes Watson, tells him to look at the sky, and say what he sees. Watson says he sees “millions of stars” and Holmes asks, “What do you conclude from that?” Watson proceeds to respond in astronomical, astrological, horological, meteorological, and theological perspectives. Watson then asks Holmes what it tells him. Holmes replies, “Someone has stolen our tent.”

Among the explanations for The Supreme Categorical Imperative and the Olden Golden is the observation “A sadist is masochist who follows the golden rule.”

The authors frequently take a well-known statement and give it a slight twist: Jesus was walking through the streets when he noticed a crowd of people throwing stones at an adulteress. Jesus said, “Let whoever is without sin cast the first store.” Suddenly a rock flew through the air. Jesus turned and said, “Mom!”

Some the jokes are old. Some are not PC. But Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar does make understanding philosophy easier to understand and fun. ( )

Klein, Daniel M. and Thomas Cathcart (2007). Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar …: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes. London: Penguin Books. 2008. ISBN 9781436220217. Pagine 230. 6,49 €

amazon.com

Non ricordavo con esattezza che cosa mi avesse spinto a compare questo e-book il 10 dicembre 2011. Probabilmente ne avevo letto una recensione, mi andavo dicendo, oppure mi era venuta voglia di affrontare qualche cosa di leggero nella vacanze invernali. Ma poi mi è venuto in mente che il libro è citato più volte nel bello studio di Hurley-Dennett-Adams, Inside Jokes: Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind, che stavo leggendo proprio in quel periodo e che ho recensito qui.

Purtroppo, il libro di Klein e Cathcart non è altrettanto ben riuscito. A tratti è divertente, alcune delle battute sono buone, ma per lo più lo champagne è un po’ sgasato e la sequenza diventa stucchevole. Un merito, però, agli autori va riconosciuto: provano effettivamente a spiegare la filosofia attraverso le barzellette. Non è, cioè, semplicemente una raccolta di barzellette a sfondo filosofico.

Se vi rimane un po’ di curiosità, ecco la storiella che dà il titolo al libro:

[…] the other day Plato and a platypus walked into a bar. The bartender gave the philosopher a quizzical look, and Plato said, “What can I say? She looked better in the cave.” [2390] ( )

brilliant ( )

It achieved its goal of explaining philosophy to the layman. But I wouldn't go out of my way to reccomend it to friends. ( )

Pretty funny, especially if you remember your 101 survey course...
If I could remember punch lines, there are great three-liners in here. I think my favorite was the dead guy taking a full suitcase to heaven. Probably because that is a stop I'll be making soon....

Don't forget to read the glossary! ( )

Light and fun read. If this is your only primer for philosophy, it leaves tons out that you should probably understand if you are to talk intelligibly about the discipline. But what it does illuminate, it does, in an interesting and engaging manner. And of course its funny. I wonder if I learned more about how to categorize jokes by their philosophical underpinnings more than I learned about philosophy from the jokes. Then again I wasn't a complete neophyte. ( )