Audiobook5 hours
Does Santa Exist?: A Philosophical Investigation
Written by Eric Kaplan
Narrated by Sean Runnette
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
Metaphysics isn't ordinarily much of a laughing matter. But in the hands of acclaimed comedy writer and scholar Eric Kaplan, a search for the truth about old St. Nick becomes a deeply insightful, laugh-out-loud discussion of the way some things exist but may not really be there-just like Santa and his reindeer.
Even after we outgrow the jolly fellow, the essential paradox persists: There are some things we dearly believe in that are not universally acknowledged as real. In Does Santa Exist?, Kaplan shows how philosophy giants Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein strove to smooth over this uncomfortable meeting of the real and unreal-and failed. From there he turns to mysticism's attempts to resolve such paradoxes. Finally, he alights on comedy as the ultimate resolution of the fundamental paradoxes of life.
Kaplan delves deeper into what this means, from how our physical brains work to his own personal confrontations with life's biggest questions: If we're all going to die, what's the point of anything? What is a perfect moment? What can you say about God? Or Santa?
Even after we outgrow the jolly fellow, the essential paradox persists: There are some things we dearly believe in that are not universally acknowledged as real. In Does Santa Exist?, Kaplan shows how philosophy giants Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein strove to smooth over this uncomfortable meeting of the real and unreal-and failed. From there he turns to mysticism's attempts to resolve such paradoxes. Finally, he alights on comedy as the ultimate resolution of the fundamental paradoxes of life.
Kaplan delves deeper into what this means, from how our physical brains work to his own personal confrontations with life's biggest questions: If we're all going to die, what's the point of anything? What is a perfect moment? What can you say about God? Or Santa?
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Reviews for Does Santa Exist?
Rating: 3.7499999714285717 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
14 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A quite funny philosophical exploration into 3 questions, all of which read the same. As the author suggest the subject could be "What is the point of life?" or "Does God exist?" but he does a great job with Santa as the subject. There is logic, and mysticism and comedy. Some parts of the books threw me but I put that up to my lack of sleep although he wades into some very deep discussion of the "unlimited".