You've Got To Be Kidding! - by John Capps & Donald Capps (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

You've Got to Be Kidding!: How Jokes Can Help You Think is a thoughtful and accessible analysis of the ways in which jokes illustrate how we think critically, and how the thinking process goes awry in everyday human situations.

• Uses jokes to illustrate the various mistakes or fallacies that are typically identified and discussed in courses on critical reasoning
• Provides an effective way to learn critical thinking skills since jokes often describe real-life situations where it really matters whether a person thinks well or not
• Demonstrates how philosophy is actually very practical and clearly related to real- life human experiences
• Explains how developing good reasoning habits can make a real difference in all aspects of one's life

From the Back Cover

You've Got to Be Kidding: How Jokes Can Help You Think focuses on a single, core issue at the heart of philosophy: our ability to think critically. The authors, a father and son team of distinguished professors, aren't kidding around when they show us that jokes illustrate the various ways in which the thinking process goes awry. On the other hand, they argue that jokes 'work' (they're funny) because they assume standards of rational thinking that are violated by the joke itself. They also reveal that many jokes assume certain fundamental ethical and moral truths, and what makes them amusing or funny is when one or more of these truths is violated. The punch line, of course, is that jokes are an invaluable resource for discussing issues of objective truth and for thinking critically about values. They also suggest that thinking critically is often a collaborative process, and that thinking often goes awry when one tries to 'go it alone.' You've Got to Be Kidding: How Jokes Can Help You Think is a serious and thoughtful analysis of the ways jokes illustrate how we think critically -- and that's no laughing matter.

About the Author

John Capps is a Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Donald Capps is Professor of Pastoral Psychology at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of more than 20 books, including A Time to Laugh: The Religion of Humor (2005).