Review: The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy
by Michael F. Patton and Kevin Cannon

Philosophy has a reputation for being bland, sterile -- and lacking any sort of fun. The whole body of knowledge that is philosophy can be overwhelming.

Patton and Cannon introduce the big concepts of philosophy like a comic book story. It begins with Heraclitus, who likened things to a river. To paraphrase Heraclitus, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” The characters come to life as the author takes you on a journey on Heraclitus' river. The journey takes the reader on a 2500 journey through western philosophy. The main character meets famous philosophers along the way stopping a moment to have a brief conversation.

It's those conversations that introduce you to the main ideas from each of the philosophers in the book. The conversations are funny and entertaining. They make light of what might otherwise be a serious subject.

Some of the philosophers covered include: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Berkley, Kant, Spinoza, Locke, Nietzsche and more.

All those "isms" can make anyone's head dizzy. You may as well have a little fun while you receive an overview of it all.