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Title: Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington
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Manufacturer: Abrams Image
List Price: $18.95
Our Price: $7.99
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| Customer Reviews: |
| Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington by Abrams Image Great follow-up! | | This is a great follow-up to Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar. These guys are really funny. I learned a lot about philosophy and politics. Buy both of these books. | | Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington by Abrams Image Weak second batter | | Their first book Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . .: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes was a home run, this was a foul ball or at best a pop up. | | Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington by Abrams Image Nothing you haven't read already somewhere else. | I purchased this book concurrently with the duo's previous book - Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes. That one was as advertised - providing a gentle introduction (or perhaps re-introduction) to, say, the iedas of Rudolf Carnap in a well-written and often humorous-enough way.
This book ("Aristotle and an Aardvark") attempts to do the same for "political doublespeak" Unfortunately, it falls flat and seems dated already, quite soon after its original publication. Even though this book shares the same basic format as the previous one, this one suffers from three fundamental flaws:
1. If you're a likely reader of this book, you will already likely have encountered the vast majority of examples of quotes in your regular internet browsing over the last few years. The specifics of Kant or Schopenhauer illuminated in the previous book required at least a philosophy major's background knowlege of philosophy. The "research" for the factual content of this book could more or less be summed up from skimming CNN and watching the Daily Show.
2. I'm left-of-lenin liberal, but reading a book teeming with wink-wink ad hominems about George W Bush and co seems dated and gratuitous. I was expecting something more timeless, along the lines of the Philosophy book. Instead, we get jocular Tom Delay bashing.
3. The "theoretical" content of this book (which, by the way, would probably be more accurately called "... through theory and jokes", though that sounds rather unsaleable) is weak. It's largely an abridged list of standard logical fallacies. Unlike Wittenstein, this tends to be something that the target audience already knows. As such, the theoretical framework largely exists to make yet more George Bush jokes, interspersed with a slag on, say, Ray Nagin for balance or something.
On the plus side, the cartoons and unrelated jokes are good. There's probably something there you can work into a talk or lecture if you're an academic.
Overall, I expected something much more enlightened, witty, and intelligent.
In case it's not clear already: read the authors' other book, and probably give this one a miss.
| | Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington by Abrams Image Perfectly Logical | | This book examines the political speak in a penetrative way that uncovers the naked truth of each statement. Be sure to read Extra Credit and the Debates. This book is brilliant. | | Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington by Abrams Image So-So book | | I read their book, "Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar" and liked it a lot. I was very disappointed by this book. It looks quickly thrown together - many errors and poor logic. Few interesting points. Sorry to see this quality after reading their other book. | | Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington by Abrams Image Product Description | Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, authors of the national bestseller Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar, aren’t falling for any election year claptrap—and they don’t want their readers to either! In Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington, our two favorite philosopher-comedians return just in time to save us from the double-speak, flim-flam, and alternate reality of politics in America.
Deploying jokes and cartoon as well as the occasional insight from Aristotle and his peers, Cathcart and Klein explain what politicos are up to when they state: “The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.” (Donald Rumsfeld), “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” (Bill Clinton), or even, “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” (Thomas Jefferson, et al).
Drawing from the pronouncements of everyone from Caesar to Condoleeza Rice, Genghis Kahn to Hillary Clinton, and Adolf Hitler to Al Sharpton. Cathcart and Klein help us learn to identify tricks such as “The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy” (non causa pro causa) and the “The Fallacy Fallacy” (argumentum and logicam). Aristotle and an Aardvark is for anyone who ever felt like the politicos and pundits were speaking Greek. At least Cathcart and Klein provide the Latin name for it (raudatio publica)! |
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