Book Review: Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy

Title: Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy
Edited by: Willaim Irwin, Series Editor and Richard Brian Davis, Editor
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
Pub Date: 2010
ISBN: 978-0-470-55836-2
Pages: 211
Price: 17.95
I received a free copy of this book from FSB Associates for my honest review.

Book Synopsis from the publisher:
*Should the Cheshire Cat's grin make us reconsider the nature of reality?
*Can Humpty Dumpty makes words mean whatever he says they mean?
*Can drugs take us down the rabbit-hole?
*Is Alice a feminist icon?

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has fascinated children and adults alike for generations. Why does Lewis Caroll introduce us to such oddities as a blue caterpillar who smoks a hookah, a cat whose grin remains after its head has faded away, and a White Queen who lives baackward and remembers forward? Is it all just nonsense? Was Carroll under the influence? This book probes the deeper underlying meaning in the Alice books and reveals a world rish with philosophical life lessons. Tapping into some of the greatest philosophical minds that ever lived-Aristotle, Hume, Hobbes, ad Nietzsche-Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy explores life's ultimate questions through the eyes of perhaps the most endearing heroine in all of literature.

About the Editors:
Richard Brian Davis is an associate professor of philosophy at Tyndale University College and the coeditor of 24 and Philosophy.

William Irwin is a professor of philsophy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen rcent titles, including Batman and Philosophy, House and Philosophy, and Watchmen and Philosophy.

To learn more about the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series:
www.andphilosophy.com


My review:
Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy is a book comprised of short essays by various authors. Each essay contains how Alice in Wonderland relates to philosophy in some way. The authors of the essays are all in the academic field and the essays read as such. The book was something I would not normally read for pleasure. In just taking an English Lit Criticism class, it reminded me of the selections I had to read for class. This is a great book for those doing academic research in the fields of English and/or Philosophy but I don't think that the average reader will find this as their typical read.