Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar...

This is one of the best philosophy books I have ever read. Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar... explains philosophical concepts with clear definitions and through the evaluation of jokes. These guys are freaking hilarious. They provide just about every concept with a joke that corresponds with what they are teaching, such as explaining British Empiricist Philosophy with this:

Morty comes home to find his wife and best friend, Lou,  naked in bed. Just as Morty is about to open his mouth, Lou jumps out of the bed and says, "Before you say anything, old pal, what are you going to believe, me or your eyes?

Of course they explain the correlation between the joke and Empiricism, which is basically the belief that senses are the primary path to knowledge, and questions what sort of information we can rely on. It's amazing that they take this philosophical argument, rationalism vs. empiricism, and give an example that is humorous and easily understandable. It is much easier to grasp the different sides of the argument in this example as opposed to trying to explain the idea of First Creation to someone with no previous background in philosophy. For a slow learner such as myself this is perfect.

My personal favorite example from the book is how they explain Illogical Reasoning.

     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 separate 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 silence falls over the bar.      
     When he comes to the bar for his second round, the bartender says, "Please aceppt my condolences, pal."
     The Irishman says, "Oh, no, everyone's fine. I just joined the Mormon Church , and I had to quit drinking."

HAHA...Mormon Church...get it?

Yeah so the entire book is filled with great stuff like that. If you are even remotely interested in Western philosophy (they don't really get into much Eastern stuff) then you should definitely check this book out. Even if you aren't that interested in philosophy the book is filled with great jokes.

You can buy the book here. Trust me it is worth it, and as an added bonus I guarantee that you will retain some of the information you read. So the next time you are sitting around discussing Existentialist theories with someone at work, you can through in your two cents worth.

I leave you with this, an example of a Paradox:

Pinocchio says: "My nose will now grow..."