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Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes
Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein
By
Published: Jan 01, 2007
Category:
Non Fiction
A snail was mugged by two turtles. When the police asked him what happened, he said, “I don’t know. It all happened so fast.”
Tom Cathcart and Daniel Klein met at Harvard. One is six-foot-five, the other is five-foot-eight. They used to be known as “the Mutt and Jeff of post-Kantian idealism.” No, that’s not a joke.
Restaurant customer to waiter: "How do you prepare your chickens? Waiter: "Oh, nothing special. We just tell them they’re gonna die."
After graduation, Cathcart bounced around: probation officer, hospice director, philosophy instructor. Klein wrote jokes for Lily Tomlin and a great many books, including “The Half-Jewish Book" and “Where’s Elvis?” They never stopped caring about philosophy — which is also not a joke.
Holmes and Watson are on a camping trip. In the middle of the night Holmes wakes up and gives Dr. Watson a nudge. “Watson,” he says, “look up in the sky and tell me what you see.” “I see millions of stars, Holmes,” says Watson. “And what do you conclude from that, Watson?” Watson thinks for a moment. “Well,” he says, “astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. Theologically, I see that God is all-powerful, and we are small and insignificant. Uh, what does it tell you, Holmes?” “Watson, you idiot! Someone has stolen our tent!”
Getting the idea? There is a connection, Cathcart and Klein say, between the architecture and punchlines of jokes and their counterparts in philosophy. Both confound our sense of the world. Both screw with our heads. And, in the space they create, we are able to think new thoughts and see the world fresh.
"Philosophy" is very broad for these guys. They include all the traditional Great Thinkers. They ask the Big Questions, from "Does life have a purpose?" to "Is the glass half-full?" They also deal with Feminism and Intelligent Design. In other words, they’ll go anywhere to make a point — and tell a joke.
Cathcart and Klein have a remarkable knack for summary and compression. And a zest for rephrasing known truths in today’s lingo. Tony Soprano’s version of the Golden Rule: "Whack the next guy with the same respect you’d like to be whacked with, you know?" Here’s their redefinition of a priori: “Known prior to experience. For example, one can know, prior to ever watching the show, that all ‘American Idol’ contestants believe they are singers because ‘American Idol’ is a singing contest for people who — for reasons best known to themselves — believe they are singers."
And they ask great questions. A client pays a lawyer $400 when he only owes $300. Should the lawyer tell his partner? (That’s an example of an ethical issue for Cathcart and Klein: situational ethics.) They point out the upside of the death penalty: "You never need to say: ‘What — you again?’" And they examine "From a Distance" to determine whether Bette Midler is a Hegelian.
Well, is she? I’m still thinking about that one. And laughing at some of the jokes. And having the occasional bright thought. You know how that works: come for the humor, leave much smarter.
"Plato and a Platypus" could be the ultimate cheat sheet. That’s not a joke. That’s utilitarianism.
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