I Think, Therefore I Laugh Revised Edition

by John Allen Paulos (Author)

9 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0231119153

ISBN-10: 0231119151

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The preeminent explicator of mathematical logic to non-mathematicians, John Allen Paulos is familiar to general readers not only from his bestselling books but also from his media appearances, including The David Letterman Show and National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" and "Science Friday," as well as articles in Newsweek, Nature, Discover, Business Week, the New York Times Book Review, The Nation, New York Review of Books, and The London Review of Books.

Paulos originally wrote this charming little book on analytic logic, its mathematics, and its puzzles in 1985. And as in his later books, he uses jokes, stories, parables, and anecdotes to elucidate difficult concepts, in this case, some of the fundamental problems in modern philosophy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

If, like me, you find fun in logical conundrums and absurdities, you will find plenty [here]. On the other hand, if youre of the type that finds people like Paulos and me tedious, you should look into his book anyway, just to see what youve been missing.

About the Author

John Allen Paulos―best-selling author and mathematician―is professor of mathematics at Temple University in Philadelphia. He has written numerous books, including Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, and Once Upon a Number.

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Columbia University Press; Revised edition (March 15, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0231119151
ISBN-13: 978-0231119153
Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 9 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #916,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #394 in Logic (Books)
- #1752 in Philosophy History & Survey
- #958 in Philosophy of Logic & Language

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therosen

Humor disquised as philosophy or vice versa?

December 29, 2004

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

It takes a rare writer to synthesize Descartes, Russell and Marx - Groucho, that is. Somehow John Paulos manages to write a treatise on analytical philosophy (logic, self-referential statements, language recognitition) using examples from humor. Yet perhaps that is the story - that humor comes from logical contradiction.

Written for the non-philosopher, this concise book is packed with great learning and quite a few laughs as well. Definitely a worthwhile read.

5 people found this helpful

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Ted

Interesting and entertaining but not the best from Paulos

July 9, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

While I admire this author, I do not think this is his best work. It is somewhat entertaining and teaches some important points. If you know his style and are interested in his approach to philosophy, you will enjoy the book. If you are hoping for close similarity to a mathematician reads the newspaper, that is not what you will get.

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Y. Rosenblatt

A bit disjointed but nice reading

October 2, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A few good insights make this book worth while.
The author thinks this is his best book.
Don't read the others then.

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Elegant Anna

Not as brilliant as Innumeracy.

May 17, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

It is a good book, however it lacks bright humor and interesting mathematical passages of "Innumeracy". I would recommend to skip this book.

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Cogito ergo ha ha ha!!

August 25, 2004

Format: Paperback

IN John Allen Paulos's book 'I think therefore I laugh: An alternative approach to Philosophy', he is inspired by Ludwig Wittgenstein's statement that one can write a comprehensive Philosophy book consisting of jokes alone. If you get the joke, you get the philosophical point. After reading this book, I tend to agree. If we really think about it, it's surprising how many jokes we crack everyday; mundane, sophisticated, derogatory, or otherwise, mostly at the expense of others. Many of these jokes are downright stupid, and we are aware of that. Now in this book, Paulos explains why they illustrate important points of philosophy. And in doing so, he sure gives us a rollicking, rib-tickling time. Paulos weaves an extremely entertaining web of anectodes, humor, and language puzzles, each time demonstrating a central philosophical point. In doing so, he also pays due homage to more or less most famous classic and contemporary philosophers including Russell, Wittgenstein, Hempel, Dewey, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Hume, Descartes, Kant, Quine and Popper, among others. He uses examples from daily life, indicating the paradoxes we unknowingly indulge in during our everyday hustle- bustle. He inspires us to look about for such examples, and most importantly have a good laugh about them.

Case in point. Today, I started to read the manual of a computer program which I am supposed to learn. All of us know how mind numbingly unforgiving a manual reading session can be. However, my spirits were immediately lifted when, on the first page of the manual, I saw the following typed statement:
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY BLANK
I got the joke; I got the paradox. I laughed- thanks to Paulos.

Highlights of the book include a hilarious dialogue between two most unlikely men: Bertrand Russell and Groucho Marx, trapped in an elevator on a 'virtual' level in the Empire State Building. Their conversation is completely nonsensical, each talking from his unique point of view. But just like Lewis Carroll's nonsense, it makes perfect sense. All through the book, Paulos uses two proverbial scapegoats, George and Martha, to illustrate the finer points of philosophical thought through seemingly idiotic, bizzare and generally hilarious conversations. In doing so, he touches upon reductionism, syllogism, sylligism, opportunism, and most of the other famous "isms". A few examples:

Everybody loves a lover
George does not love himself
Hence George does not love Martha

Illogical as the above argument looks, by the rules of logic, Paulos explains that it makes perfect sense. Or consider this "Proof that God exists"

1. God exists
2. Both these statements are false.

Welcome to the world of paradoxes! Some thorny thinking convinces us that irrespective of whether the second statement is true or false, the first statement HAS to be true. In fact, you can substitute any statement in place of the first one (For example, 'George Bush was in love with Elizabeth Taylor'). The second one will guarantee that it's true.
How about this one. Its a chilly winter night and Martha meets George in front of his house.

Martha: George, what are you doing?
George: Oh, I am looking for my car keys. I lost them near that bush there.
Martha: So why aren't you looking for them there?
George: Because its brighter here and I can see better.

Some of the examples are outright silly, great examples of bad jokes that all of us crack sometime or the other.

Martha: That's the last straw! I have had enough of this. I wash my hands of the whole business.
George: A good idea. You can wash your neck too.

Paulos says that this dialogue actually demonstrates an important philosophical principle.

The title of the third section is: "The Titl of This Section Contains Three Erors"
Can you spot them? If yes, you would have unearthed a very important philosophical 'classification of classes or sets', having deep implications for math and logic.

Another examples of this 'classification of classes':
'Robert Benchley once remarked, "There may be said to be two classes of people in the world; those who constantly divide the people of the world into two classes, and those who do not." He should have added paradoxically that he belongs to the latter class.

I could go on! But I don't want to give away the wonder of the book. It is a truly refreshing read, for the sheer reason that it shows us how we can constantly laugh at others, life, and most importantly ourselves, and have an educational experience doing it. I think it would be a fascinating experience for us to glance around everyday, and have a look at the idiosyncrasies that we indulge in, the jokes that we crack, and the criticisms that we dispense, and endure, knowingly and unknowingly demonstrating philosophical insights. Paulos tries to convince us that there is more to daily life than we think, and that philosophy need not be a separate 'subject' to be studied. It is a part of our everyday wherewithal and exemplified in all its glory in all our relationships. I had a ball of a time reading this book, and I think you will too.

42 people found this helpful

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A. G. Plumb

I Laugh Therefore I Think

February 15, 2001

Format: Paperback

This is a wonderful joining of laughter (which nearly everyone does) and mathematics/logic (which not as many do well as they should be able to - me included). I would hesitate to use it as a supporting text in a mathematics, logic or philosophy class but many of the examples given would be great teacher's aids. (The book is sometimes too technical for students and its technical details may alienate some of them - in my estimation anyway.) But I have written elsewhere (see 'Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea') that I believe mathematics education will be greatly assisted by humanising it, putting people back into it (who could not be fascinated by Ramanujan, Erdos, Gauss and company?). The writings of Paulos would be a great tool in this direction and I wouldn't hesitate in prescribing 'Innumeracy', for example, as a required text. This book, however, would be a great source of ideas for a teacher or an interested reader like myself. And there are some very good laughs too!

29 people found this helpful

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N N Taleb

Great Refresher in Analytical Philosophy --maybe the best

February 9, 2004

Format: Paperback

I found this copy last week at Waterstone in London . It made me feel the plane ride was very short! I should have bought a couple. This is a great book for a refresher in analytical philosophy: pleasant, clear. Great training for people who tend to forget elementary relationships.
I did not know that JAP was a logician. Go buy this book!
The only competition is "Think" by Blackburn (rather boring).

13 people found this helpful

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kim156@hotmail.com

Superb!

January 18, 2000

Format: Hardcover

I should say the contain of this book is very high ly intellectual. It opens up my mind exponentially. Well done, John!

One person found this helpful

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I Think, Therefore I Laugh Revised Edition