The principle of parsimony – Fourteenth century theologian William Occam ‘s principle of parsimony ‘ Occam’s razor’ This principle declares that “Theories should not be any more complex than necessary.” or as Occam put it metaphysically, theoriesshould not “multiply entities unnesessarily. Process philosophy – A god who is evolving and can surprise himself. This joke reminds me of the ‘I keep thinking it’s tuesday’ joke I discussed earlier.ĭetermination versus free will – Do we have control over our own destiny? If not we have no moral obligations because we have no free will. One turns to the other and says,”Although pi is usually abbreviated to five numbers, it actually goes on into infinity.” What would the absurdist say? ,”This turnip is open for business”.or ‘Nothing, he just committed suicide’. The rationalist says,”This glass is twice as big as it needs to be.” (pg17) The pessimist says,”The glass is half empty”. The optimist says,”The glass is half full”. Rationalism is made as clear as glass by this joke. Paul Klee wrote that he discovered his artistic style whilst reading Candide and went on to Illustrate it himself. This led to a film called Candy in which a naive young girl remains innocent and optomistic as she is exploited by all the men she encounters. his reasoning revolves around god creating the world and being all powerful and morally perfect… Leibniz was soundly ridiculed by people like Voltaire (Candide’s philosophical mentor insists everything is for the best as Candide encounters tragedies). Gottfried Willheim Leibniz was a seventeenth century rationalist philosopher and he arrived by the idea that this is the best possible world by arguing with reason alone. “this is the best of all possible worlds” Leibniz (pg15) A scene from Candide where two monkeys are shot chasing two ladies who were actually the monkey’s lovers. Where absurd is the absense of sense, in rationalism reason takes precedent over all other ways of thinking. Rationalism – this is a good one as it may be seen as the complete opposite of the absurd. So you could take away my clothes or cut my hair and I’d still be human but take away my rationality (which Aristotle considered essential to a human being) and I would no longer be human. (pg8)Įssentialism – This is about the essential properties of something that if you took them away from something then the thing would be something else. Teleology – According to Aristotle, everything has a telos, which is an inner goal it is meant to attain. The chapter is split into smaller sections The first chapter looks at metaphysics (which deals with the really big questions that are beyond scientific observation). 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. This is proving to be a very useful book, not only is it helping my very basic understanding of taught philosophy but it’s full of jokes that deal with pretty absurd ideas… Together, they are also authors of the politically incorrect book of daily affirmations Macho Meditations.". Dan lives in the Berkshires with his wife. Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar : Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes by Daniel Klein and Thomas Cathcart (2007, Hardcover) 4. Dan has written jokes for various comedians, including Flip Wilson and Lily Tomlin. Tom worked with street gangs in Chicago, doctors at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and dropped in and out of divinity schools. Not bad for a couple of philosophy majors from Harvard who tried on various careers after graduation. Together, they are also authors of the politically incorrect book of daily affirmations Macho Meditations." Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein wrote the bestselling Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes, which will be translated into more than a dozen languages. Read 1,908 reviews from the world’s largest community for readers. Dan lives in the Berkshires with his wife. Dan has written jokes for various comedians, including Flip Wilson and Lily Tomlin. This New York Times bestseller is the hilarious philosophy course everyone wishes they&8217d had in school.Outrageously funny, Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar. Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein wrote the bestselling Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes, which will be translated into more than a dozen languages.
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