Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates: Using Philosophy (and Jokes!) to Explore Life, Death, the Afterlife, and Everything in Between

Philosophy through jokes. What a fabulous concept. The trio of books make philosophical concepts, easier to understand, quite interesting, and fun at the same time. These guys are geniuses.

Cutesy clever jokes organized into philosophical categories. I was hoping to pick up a few jokes to help me illustrate complex Philo concepts. No such luck with this series of books. They were too corny and too highly steeped in specific context to lend a hand at illustrating difficult concepts. Disappointing, but perhaps my expectations were too high. Glad I got a cheap, used copy. On the other hand, this book was entertaining. I felt a sweet trickle of delight running through the twists and turns of topic. I liked it, even if I didn't get practical tools to use in open conversation. Since there are not many comedians focusing on ancient philosophy for source material, I made do with this read and it's novelties. The main reason I subtracted one star was for depth. Otherwise a light, fun read.

This being the third book by Cathcart and Klein (I also recommend their previous two: Plato and a Platypus / Aristotle and an Aardvark Boxed Set (Box Set) ), it is focused on the issue of death, suicide, heaven, hell and all that. It's full of memorable jokes and quotes such as, "Probably the toughest time in anyone's life is when you have to murder a loved one because they're the devil." Don't be fooled by some of the other reviewers, this book is very funny; it's full of hilarious jokes, which do indeed help elucidate some of the major themes in philosophical literature. It also includes some humorous cartoons. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

Philosophy, religion, the afterlife, and a few irreverent jokes. A great mix. As as philosophy major myself, I am aware that nit-splitting philosophical musings can induce coma-like symptoms. The authors keep it light, with overviews of "the big questions" mixed in with a little humor. Just right for non-academic folks interested in philosophy, and academics who dons't take themselves too seriously. Note that some of the humor is slightly politically incorrect, but that's what makes it humorous.

Not as good as their other volume. The Plato book was a hoot and instructive, as intended; this one isn't as funny or as interesting philosophically.

This book deals with one of Central questions facing religion: death. It goes through all the major notions the people have about what happens to you when you die and through the use of jokes it illustrates the points made by major philosophers and theologians. Even though it dealt with the very serious topic I laughed through the whole thing. Whatever your belief system may be you'll find this challenging to read, highly irreverent (which I love), and generally informative.

I found this to be an absolutely delightful book. This is not heavy reading, but it does indeed take you through a light hearted journey in the issues and thoughts and practices surrounding death. Some of the jokes may seem to be in poor taste by some, but what the hell? Death, being such an eternal, definite phenomena, I am sure that Death can take a bit of a joke about - ? - himself? Itself? None of us really know what will become of us after death, and there is such a lot of heavy literature, and heavy ceremony surrounding death, that it is high time that some one came out with something as light as this book. Well done guys. Keep 'em coming.

Nearly identical in format to it's companion Plato And A Platypus Walk Into Bar, a wonderful balance of philosophy jokes and a little pedantry. This time there is more of a focus on religion, life, death and the afterlife- potentially daunting and depressing subjects made palatable with great deal of wit and humor. Much smarter and more educational than it needs to be. Another instant favourite. Most highly recommended.

This one does not have as good jokes as the original famous one from the authors. But a good book to read none-the less

An excellent read

You'll not understand Heidegger better after reading this book. It has no great value if you want to understand philosophy, It's a collection of jokes about death, using philosophy to put them all together. However the jokes are good and inspiring, the book is well written and funny. Indeed even jokes can be thought provoking.

great book, haven't finished it yet but i usually don't like jokes or comedy (sue me) but I've read Cathcart and Klein's "Plato and a platypus..." and they haven't been disappointing on both accounts. it deals with philosophical debates but through humour, their work reminds me of Aristophanes' play 'The Frogs'. I disagreed with their ideas on some accounts but despite that its a great way to understand Philosophical jargon

An honest and funny examination of the obvious fact that we are all going to die ( and the less obvious fact that it is life that is tragic while death is quite funny). Whatever you believe or hope is the case after you die, this book will make you think. And you will marvel at the lengths humans have gone to, in trying to think their way out of - or into - this conundrum arising out of being alive. And when you finally pass on, you can leave em laughing.