Customer Reviews

Action Philosophers Giant-Size Thing Vol. 2

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This is without a doubt one of the funniest things I've ever read. And, shockingly (at least to me) it is also one of the most accurate I've ever read too. I have a B.A. in Philosophy and have just recently earned a M.A. in another discipline. With the exception of Derrida and Aquinas I have had exposure in an academic setting to all of the philosophers covered in here. I picked up this comic on a whim and didn't expect much (but heck, it's only eight bucks, what have I got to lose). I was laughing out loud at some of the stuff in there (I'll never forget the image of Aquinas' delusional bunny facing down the big rig truck screaming, "BRING IT ON!!! I CANNOT NOT BE!!!"). But, none (I repeat NONE) of the substantive material of any of the philosophers is sacrificed and equally impressive none (I repeat NONE) of the humor is diluted by the philosophical material. For example, Wittgenstein is covered with an accuracy I have seen in few introductory philosophy texts. Overall, this is the perfect marriage of accuracy, humor, and freakin' awesome comic genius. If you are a beginning philosophy student (e.g., no formal training but are interested in the field), an intermediate student (some philosophy classes in a university setting), or an advanced student (a degree from a university or actively pursuing post-baccalaureate studies in philosophy) you will find something of value in this. Beginners will have to read it more than once to get all the substantive ideas if you've had no exposure to them and then need to go to source material with good secondary sources to help guide you. Intermediate or advanced students will have to read it more than once because you'll be laughing so hard you won't be able to get all the jokes the first time through.

Further Recs (Beginners): Anthony Appiah's "Thinking It Through" (BEST intro to contemporary philosophy I've ever encountered. There actually IS a reason to read Descartes, Hobbes, Plato, and all those other dead white dudes that relate to topics philosophers are talking about TODAY.)
Further Recs (Intermediate): Bryan Magee's "Confessions of a Philosopher" (You can justify squeezing in a book that's not for class because technically it IS a philosophy book)
Further Recs (Advanced): Scott Soames 2 Vol "Philosophical Analysis in the 20th Century" (If your academic training was anything similar to mine, you were trained in some sort of analytic philosophy. This gives a good bird's eye view of all the faults AND virtues in our mother tongue.)

A great intro into some of the great thoughts and thinkers. The humour is very witty. If you like Monty Pythonesque silly intellectual humour, then this book will be a treat.

While the Action Philosophers series is better used as a gateway drug to some hard core philosophy than a substitute for actual study of the source materials, it has amazingly lucid graphic explainations of both Plato's Allegory of the Cave (vol. 1) and Descarte's Cogito, Ergo Sum (vol. 2).
I give it my heartiest reccomendation. In fact, so long as it's part of Amazon's 4 for 3 deal, I'm stocking up. I plan to give a set to each of my MA professors who teach literary theory, to gift one to my younger brother, and to keep one in my bookbag for work--tutoring high schoolers. AP is quick, portable, and nutritious.