Document (#23745)

Author

Paulos, J.A.

Title

I think, therefore I laugh

Imprint

New York : Columbia University Press

Year

1985

Pages

163 S

Isbn

0-231-06031-9

Abstract

Have you heard about the irritable husband who, seeking to improve his marriage, was told by a doctor to take a calming 10-mile walk each evening, and call back after a month? "Things are fine, I'm very relaxed," the man reported the next month, "but I'm 300 miles from home." Assumptions, suppositions, and theories are necessary to do science or to "do" life but, as this story points out, they can be misleading when made unthinkingly (as they often are). In I Think, Therefore I Laugh John Paulos makes use of a great variety of jokes and stories in providing a profound and witty account of some of the most basic riddles of modern analytic philosophy. The Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once remarked that "a good and serious philosophical work could be written that would consist entirely of jokes"- one understands the philosophical point only if one gets the joke. Paulos contends that humor and philosophy resonate at an even deeper level (both evince a strong penchant for debunking, for example), and proves his contention through parables, puzzles, and paradoxes dealing with topics ranging from scientific induction to the distinction between intentional and causal explanations. He engages Groucho Marx and Bertrand Russell in a spirited dialogue that flows from their mutual concern with self-reference and their tendency toward skepticism and anarchist feelings. And, he links Wittgenstein himself with Lewis Carroll, both having been preoccupied with nonsense, logical confusion, and language puzzles. To enjoy I Think, Therefore I Laugh requires no advanced knowledge of philosophy, but a hearty appreciation for wit and humor is a must. This informal but brilliant book is not only a lucid introduction to some of philosophy's most perplexing problems, but a thoroughly amusing and entertaining show as well. The dialogue between Groucho Marx and Bertrand Russell is itself worth the price of admission

Field

Philosophie

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