#Plato and a platypus walk into a bar how to

Plotted: A Literary Atlas, Andrew DeGraff Parnassus on Wheels & The Haunted Bookshop, Christopher Morley Notorious RBG, Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik My Life in France, Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, Jon Krakauer Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Helen Simonson Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Anthony Bourdain Jim Trelease’s Read-Aloud Handbook, edited and revised by Cyndi Giorgis Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor, Stephanie Barron If on a winter’s night a traveler, Italo Calvino I Will Always Write Back, Caitlin Alifirenka & Martin Ganda with Liz Welch I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

#Plato and a platypus walk into a bar how to

How to Bake π–An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics, Eugenia Cheng Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, Laurie Colwin Hemingway Didn’t Say That, Garson O’Toole

Gmorning, Gnight! Little Pep Talks for Me & You, Lin-Manuel Miranda DelafieldĮd Emberly’s Drawing Book of Animals, Ed EmberlyĮleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeymanįrom the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. & Ernestine Gilbreth Careyĭecorating a Room of One’s Own, Susan Harlanĭiary of a Provincial Lady, E.M. Laura can be contacted at Image (From Book Cover) Courtesy of Penguin Random HouseĪ Wandering Eye: Travels with My Phone, Miguel Flores-ViannaĬan’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Roz ChastĬheaper by the Dozen, Frank B. Laura LaVelle is an attorney and writer who lives in Connecticut, in a 100-year-old house, along with her husband, two daughters, and a cockatiel. RATING (one to five whistles, with five being the best): 3 Whistles And if you can’t get enough of this particular brand of humor, the authors, thrilled by their unexpected success, put out two sequels, and have pursued their own solo writing projects as well. A surprise best seller when it was released (after first being rejected by over 40 publishers) Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar is both informative and amusing. 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.