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Three Answers to the Question “What Is Philosophy?”
A Comedy in Three Acts
Imprint: Cascade Books
Philosophy is like a party that started over 2,500 years ago and is still going strong. When you take a philosophy class, you're invited to join this party; but walking into a party 2,500 years late can feel a little awkward. This book is meant to solve that problem. The best way to feel welcome is to focus on how funny philosophy is, simply because its ideals are so high that humans almost never manage to reach them.
This book gives three answers to the question "What is philosophy?" (1) Philosophy is a conversation that has been going on for over 2,500 years which has been full of comedy from the beginning and will continue to be funny forever if we do it right. (2) Philosophy is a very awkward business that has always been on the verge of going out of business. (3) Philosophy is something that makes almost everyone write very badly. In addition to this three-act comedy the book also contains two practical guides to being happy and successful in philosophy classes.
Stuart Dalton is a philosophy professor at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut, USA.
“Classical comedies start with a problem and have a happy ending. Modern comedies make you laugh. Stuart Dalton’s Three Answers to the Question “What Is Philosophy?” is both. An enjoyably engaging introduction that traces the discipline through its multiple phases, it leaves students knowing that philosophy is abstract yet useful, traditional yet relevant, but most of all profound yet fun.”
—Steven Gimbel, professor of philosophy, Gettysburg College
“I once had a student who claimed that ‘philosophy is just one big important party.Double’ I never thought someone would write a book with that as the main thesis, but Stuart Dalton has done so! This book is fantastic. My only frustration is that I wish I were cool enough to have written it.”
—J. Aaron Simmons, professor of philosophy, Furman University
“Stuart Dalton tells us that philosophy is often unintentionally funny and always badly written. Then, against his own principles, he gives us a wonderful book of philosophy that is deliberately funny and written with grace and eloquence. This book, which will be of interest for everyone attending or teaching an Introduction to Philosophy class, narrates the history of Western philosophy in the only proper way—irreverently and ecstatically.”
—Dustin Peone, author of Making Philosophy Laugh: Humor, Irony, and Folly in Philosophical Thought
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