Title: Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar… Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes
Authors: Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein
Paperback: 196 pages
published: 2008
ISBN: 9780143113874
An Irishman walks into a Dublin bar, orders three pints of Guinness, and drinks them down, taking a sip from one, then a sip from the next, until they’re gone. He then orders three more. The bartender says, “You know, they’d be less likely to go flat if you bought them one at a time.”
The man says, “Yeah, I know, but I have two brothers, one in the States, one in Australia. When we all went our seperate ways, we promised each other that we’d all drink this way in memory of the days when we drank together. Each of these is for one of my brothers and the third is for me.”
The bartender is touched, and says, “What a great custom!”
The Irishman becomes a regular in the bar and always orders the same way.
One day he comes in and orders two pints. The other regulars notice, and a silence falls over the bar. When he comes to the bar for his second round, the bartender says, “Please accept my condolences, pal.”
The Irishman says, “Oh, no, everyone’s fine. I just joined the Mormon Church, and I had to quit drinking.”
-”Illogical Reasoning,” Plato and a Platypus Walks into a Bar… by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, page 29
In Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar… by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein the authors use jokes to illustrate a wide variety of philosophical schools of thought. Sometimes they do it with great intelligence and deftness, sometimes not so much. Most of the jokes are quite funny, with an occasional belly-buster, but some do fall a little flat.
But the jokes are only a vehicle for the authors to open the door for the layman to understand different philosophical thoughts. For the most part, they are successful in this venture, but there are a few sections which I didn’t understand any better after reading them than I did before. Overall, however, the book seems to be meant only to introduce the reader to philosophy, leaving it to them to explore different concepts on their own.
Two cows are standing in the pasture. One turns to the other and says, “Although pi is usually abbreviated to five numbers, it actually goes on into infinity.”
The second cow turns to the first and says, “Moo.” -”Metaphysics,” page 20
What this book really accomplishes is make philosophy accessable to readers who have had little to no exposure to it. After reading, I also want to look into some of the philosophers mentioned in this book. For readability and for inspiring me to get MORE books, I give Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar… by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein 4 out of 5 stars.
An eighty-year-old woman bursts into the men’s day-room at the retirement home. She holds her clenched fist in the air and announces, “Anyone who can guess what I have in my hand can have sex with me tonight!”
An old man in the back shouts, “An elephant?”
The woman thinks for a moment and says, “Close enough!” -”Philosophy of Language,” page 141
By the way, the website is pretty cool, as well. You can watch videos as well as take tests and read the authors’ latest news. Check out Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar… the website.
A couple of WWII reading challenge participants reviewed Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson, in which the war is a secondary theme and appears in a character’s memories. Here’s what they had to say about the book; click the links for the complete reviews.
So I realize everyone loves reading as much as I do (lol just joking) but I figured I’d let you know some of the top books from the year, from people whose opinions I pay attention to (doesn’t mean I necessarily agree with them).
Another book read by Christopher from Doolittle’s for the WWII reading challenge was Harry Turtledove’s The Man With the Iron Heart. Here’s a little of what he had to say about the book:
Tracey from A Book Sanctuary read Nancy Wake: The Inspiring Story of One of the War’s Greatest Heroines by Peter Fitzsimmons for the WWII reading challenge. Here’s a little of what she had to say:
Lorri from Jew Wishes read Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World’s Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb for the WWII reading challenge. Here’s an excerpt from her review:
In The Cajun Night Before Christmas, written in a stiff Cajun dialect that takes a little getting used to if you aren’t familiar, we are treated to a distinctly French Louisiana version of Clement Moore’s classic. With a Santa who dresses in muskrat, rides in a skiff pulled by French named alligators and who takes perhaps too many nips of blackberry wine, this tale is a wonderful read aloud – if you can pull off the dialect.
beautiful white alligator, Nicolette. The white alligator is a rare occurrence in the Louisiana swamp. It isn’t an albino, it is the result of an unusual genetic abnormality that leaves the gator with white skin pigmentation and blue eyes. Dunham did a wonderful job with this story and the illustrations are beautiful.
Well, I have to do it sometime so it might as well be now. Below I have posted My Top 10 Selections for books published in 2009. Though my “to read” stack still holds a few titles that would potentially bump a couple off of this list, it’s not likely that I will finish them before the new year. Therefore, I offer these up along with with my yearly lament…so many books,so little time…
In Laurie’s Mind selected A Fine of 200 Francs by Elsa Triolet for the WWII Reading Challenge. To read her full review, click on the link. In the meantime, here’s an excerpt:
a lot these days – mostly through Jonathan Edwards – and how one’s understanding of what a person is, and what “human” entails, often does a lot of work in one’s theology. In an attempt to feed my inquiry, Oxford was kind enough to send me Lucian Turcescu’s Gregory of Nyssa and the Concept of Divine Persons. I would like to use some of Turcescu’s reflections on Gregory to talk a bit more broadly about the concept of personhood and how it functions theologically. Taking a look at Gregory of Nyssa will hopefully prove instructive as more and more theologians scan the horizon of Cappadocian theology for answers concerning trinitarian personhood and theology.
This year Wombat is old enough to part in the nativity play, ‘so with his heart full of hope and his head full of dreams, he hurried along to the auditions.’ It’s hard to find a part that’s just right for him and when all the parts have been handed out, he’s a very sad wombat indeed. Everyone crowds around to comfort him but then Bilby has a brilliant idea.
Make sure to add to your reading list The Bible as Improv: Seeing and Living the Script in New Ways by Ron Martoia (March, 2010, Zondervan). Here is an honest, creative, and challenging presentation of good, bad, and inconsistent ways of living in conversation with the Bible. Like Scot McKnight’s The Blue Parakeet, Martoia reflects with consternation on his Christian journey, riddled with selective and sloppy biblical application. His own journey started to take a new direction, however, when he viewed the Bible less as a repository of information, but as a life-shaping resource, a lens or worldview that helps us make sense of everything.
Lockdown: Escape from Furnace
FEATURE ARTICLE
Five Ways To Shine As A Professional Writer
By Dana Blozis
With the growth of social media and marketing techniques like
online article marketing, it seems that everyone is a writer of one
sort or another. In fact, I've read a handful of articles that
assure the reading public that anyone can write. While this may be
technically true, those of us who write for a living know that it
isn't as easy as it sounds. There is much more to the craft than
meets the eye.
With this new realm of competition at our doorstep, I've created a
list of ways that can set you apart from those who are merely
dabbling in writing or writing simply for marketing's sake.
1) Develop a website. If you don't already have one, confirm your
legitimacy as a writer or journalist by creating your own website.
It can be as simple as one page which tells who you are, what types
of writing you specialize in and how people can contact you. At the
other end of the spectrum, it can be a multi-page site that
contains bio information, a professional profile or résumé and
clips of your work. Regardless of your site's level of complexity,
your site will confirm that you are a professional writer with a
portfolio and published clips.
2) Create a professional profile. Unless you graduated from
j-school and have been a professional writer since your career
began, I've found that a traditional resume doesn't cut it.
Instead, I developed a two-page professional profile. It looks
similar to my résumé, but it only briefly summarizes my irrelevant
career prior to becoming a freelancer over four years ago. It
contains sections like relevant skills (writing, editing,
marketing); a sample of my client list; my relevant education; and
a list of publications and websites for whom I've written. I have
this document posted on my website so, when replying to a freelance
posting or ad, I can refer the editor or prospective client to my
profile without sending an attachment (hint: unless they know you,
they won't open an attachment anyway.).
3) Prepare an online portfolio. Whether you include this
information on your website or use one provided by an organization
like Media Bistro, you'll need an online portfolio of your
published work. It can be organized any number of ways, depending
on what types of clips you have. On my site, portfolio samples are
broken down by type (articles, marketing materials, and web copy).
You could also break them down by publication or media type
(broadcast, print, web, newspaper, magazine, etc.) Clips can take
virtually any format: you can post them directly to a web page, add
a *.pdf or *.doc/*.docx attachment, link to a URL, etc. As long as
your portfolio is well organized and the clips are relatively
current, site visitors (a.k.a. prospective clients) will be able to
find what they're looking for.
4) Proof and edit your own work. Have you ever received an e-mail
or letter from a colleague or prospective client riddled with
mistakes? Did it make you cringe? This is a common pet peeve of
professional writers and editors, including me. I always tell
(read: nag) business professionals from all industries but
particularly writers and editors to make sure they proof and edit
their own work prior to submission to an editor or client. Of
course, the materials are likely to be proofread and copyedited by
someone else, too, but if you want repeat business or additional
assignments, your work must be top notch and error-free. Because so
many "article marketers" are focused on selling their products and
services and NOT on punctuation and spelling, your writing will be
superior.
5) Hone your craft. Whether you are a self-taught or
college-educated writer, continue to expand your talent by
investing in quality resources (a good dictionary and thesaurus;
Chicago Manual of Style; Writer's Market; The Copyeditor's
Handbook, etc.); taking continuing education classes; and trying
out different genres (business writing, creative writing, fiction,
horror, romance, etc.). You'll not only fine-tune your skills, but
you'll have a better sense of where your voice best fits in the
writing world.
If you follow these five tips, you will stand out as a professional
writer--not as a fly-by-night blogger, forum poster or article
marketer--and you will gain confidence in your ability to market
yourself and your writing and editing services. Happy writing!
Copyright (c) 2007 Dana Blozis
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dana Blozis of Virtually Yourz is a freelance writer, editor and
marketing professional based in the Seattle area. In addition to
writing for publication, she writes for small businesses and
nonprofits. For more information, visit Virtually Yourz.
http://www.virtuallyyourz.com
ID:as091125
Liz Maverick
Today Grace and I finished reading The Swiss Family Robinson. Having watched and loved the Disney movie so many times as a child, I looked forward to reading this story of adventure with my daughter.