Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington (Hardcover)

by Thomas Cathcart (Author), Daniel Klein (Author)

Editorial Reviews

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)!

About the Author

Tom Cathcart and Dan Klein pursued the usual careers after majoring in philosophy at Harvard. Tom worked with street gangs in Chicago and dropped in and out of various divinity schools. Dan wrote jokes for comedians, designed stunts for Candid Camera, and continues to pen thrillers. Each lives with his wife in New England.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: Abrams Image (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810995417
• ISBN-13: 978-0810995413
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,260 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing you haven't read already somewhere else., April 10, 2008

By	Swift (Cambridge, UK) - See all my reviews

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars `Understanding Political Doublespeak Through Philosophy and Jokes', October 17, 2008

By	J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The examples may be quoted from and especially relevant to Washington but the process of political doublespeak is universal. I mention that to try to reassure the Americans who may feel that their politicians (of whatever stripe) have been singled out unfairly. My own copy of this book is liberally festooned with Post-it notes, many of which cause me current amusement and may well form part of my future research for post-employment writing.

`It's a good speech - just a couple of points need obfuscation.'

The book (hardbound, as all good reference material should be) has six parts. Those parts are entitled:
Part I The Tricky Talk Strategy (Misleading with Doublespeak)
Part II The `So's Your Mother' Strategy (Misleading by Getting Personal)
Part III The Fancy Footwork Strategy (Misleading with Informal Fallacies)
Part IV The Star Trek Strategy (Misleading by Creating an Alternate Universe)
Part V Extra Credit (Misleading with Way Twisty Formal Fallacies)
Part VI The Debates (Misleading by Fabrication (Ours))

All of this is very important if you wish to understand what is fallacious and why. But if you are just in the mood for humour, and need to be comforted in these unsettling times consider: that failure may simply be a success that hasn't happened yet! This reminds me of another line (not in the book), which I will borrow from another famous philosopher (the late Jim Morrison) and quote accurately albeit out of context `No-one here gets out alive'. Is this a lie, or a larger truth?

Yes, it is true: `There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you' (Will Rogers)

Now I have a dilemma: where do I store this book? Under `H' for humour, or under `R' for reality? Alas, `F' for fallacy (examples) is already overflowing.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Funny, but with bias, March 11, 2008

By	ArcticWind (Gainesville, FL) - See all my reviews

I read Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington after reading Cathcart and Klein's first book, Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar. Unfortunately, I did not find this one nearing as entertaining.

Foremost, it must be said that repetition of the same jokes over and over again became quite tiring. There was also nothing really new and innovative about the humor; most of the jokes about politics and politicians have been told before. Contrast this with Plato and a Platypus, where the humor was fresh and the punch-lines worth repeating.

As some of the previous readers have mentioned, there was a clear bias towards the Left. While the Republicans have been in power for the first six years of this decade and thus can provide more comedic fodder, I was still expecting a bit fairer treatment by Cathcart and Klein. But then again, I should have expected as much when Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, praises the book on its back cover.

Even still, it is an interesting read and you will learn how to identify the double-speak and fallacious reasoning so often employed by politicians. My personal recommendation: check-out this book from your local library. You'll learn a few things, and still have the $12.89.