Dr. Seuss and Philosophy: Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!

by Jacob M. Held (Editor)

Since Theodor Geisel published his first children's book in 1937 under the pseudonym Dr. Seuss, children and adults alike have been captivated by the charming and laconic tales of whimsical characters and imaginative worlds. But Dr. Seuss' stories are more than just catchy poems; they often wrestle with serious philosophical and moral dilemmas, whether it is Horton discovering the very essence of life or the Lorax teaching us about morality. Dr. Seuss and Philosophy explores philosophical concepts such as the nature of the good life in Oh, the Places You'll Go!, the nature of knowledge in McElligot's Pool, postmodernity in On Beyond Zebra, business and the environment in The Lorax, and moral character in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, among many others. Anyone who loves Dr. Seuss or is interested in philosophy will find this book to be intriguing and enlightening.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Essays, Childrens, Biography

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 16, 2011

About the author

Assistant Professor of philosophy at the University of Central Arkansas specializing in legal and political philosophy, nineteenth-century German philosophy, and applied ethics.

Reviews

[Garima Mamgain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't exactly grown up reading Seuss but I still found this book to be a very very interesting read. Children's books often has hidden and not so hidden lessons for adults.... This book helps u assess daily predicaments from a very childlike perspective. The book is divided into multiple chapters all independent of each other and I found myself skipping the ones that just didn't interest me.... And delving more into ones I liked. The book leaves you with loads of homework to be done. I for one will had to research on the various concepts introduced to assimilate them completely.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

409 - 2019

[dave semrud · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read with caution.

Now that I know what "Woke" means I I can categorize this as philosophy for parents who wants Woke kids. You won't find a masculine pronoun anywhere in sight unless absolutely necessary. I was suspicious about the authors leaning when one of the authors said that any knee jerk reflex negative reaction the reader had to Marx was due to ignorance and not the body count (upward of a 100 mill) of those who applied his theories to real life. . What did it for me was when I read that gender was a social construct. . I'd normally put some clever quip here but this is so absurd I don't want to waste the electrons.
If you want a good intro to philosophy check out 'Sophie's World.Excellent

[Chels Patterson]

At the moment have only read 2 chapters, I fell the authors could have relied more on Dr Seuss and his thoughts backed by primary sources, rather than other famous philosophisers and whether they agreed with Seuss or if they did not. Other philosophers are not needed, I believe and may only be need to back up Seuss. Instead it seems I have read more on Neitichez views rather than Seuss. Which is still interesting, just not what I am looking for.

[Jaime Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites to read my kids. Simon (my 4 year old) has it memorized and laughs as we read through.

Dr. Suess is recommended reading for any parent/child team!

[Mommalibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty thin stuff. There was also a lot of repetition from the various contributors.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for anyone who LOVES Dr. Seuss, not for the die hard philosophy fan. This is not a book expounding on Dr. Seuss's personal beliefs or the secret messages in his children's books. Rather it is a book that explains philosophical theories and lines of though and uses Dr. Seuss books as examples. I enjoyed that this book doesn't do the typical jargony academic voice that over expands and serves the purpose to assert the author's intelligence over the reader's. It explains things simply and clearly.

My favorite sections were the ones discussing Marxism's views on capitalism with the examples of Gertrude McFuzz and the Sneetches. The philosophical principles of consumption and capitalism made so much sense to me, and I think using Dr. Seuss as a framework helped my comprehension. Another great one was the discussion of racism.

As other reviewers have stated the book can get repetitive, and is best read in small doses, a result of using the same examples to demonstrate similar notions. Read it if you're a Seuss fan or if you just want to understand basic philosophy. I think using Seussian stories was a great choice, and I'm glad I gave this book a go.

[William Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Seuss was the pen name of Theodore Geisel. He published his first children's book under that pseudonym back in 1937. I am familiar with some of his work, but I am no expert. Off the top of my head, I knew about Green Eggs and Ham, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and some of the Horton books.

The book's title is Dr. Seuss and Philosophy. It is a collection of eighteen essays by different authors. The series combines popular culture and philosophy to bring big ideas to the masses. The book has a bibliography, but the editor admits that citing the work is challenging due to the lack of page numbers in some of Dr. Seuss's works. Thankfully, the stories are all relatively short.

For example, the first essay explores the Seuss story "Oh, The Places You'll Go." The author brings up Socrates and examines happiness. The Lorax is another cited work from Seuss.

I enjoyed the book immensely. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.

[Karalynn Shade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was interested just off the fact that I never thought of Dr. Suess’ books as being philosophical, but turns out, they very much are. The introduction to this book is what really hooked me; they introduced the book in poem formatted as Dr. Suess would. As someone who likes to think very deeply, but hasn’t read any philosophy books yet, this really was a great introduction! I couldn’t give it five stars because sometimes it would use different words like “esoteric” or “sociocultural milieu” where they weren’t really explained and I’d get lost in the sauce a bit trying to look it up and understand how it fit with the context. A book that makes you learn is always a good one, though. I just wish it would’ve explained some of the less talked about topics a little more. All in all, great read though!

I would recommend this book to any fan of Dr. Suess or just anyone looking to dip their toes in philosophy and are looking for a familiar way to understand it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays about philosophical questions/ answers that Dr. Seuss's stories touched on. Concepts like: success and a good life; pain and suffering; diversity; etc.

"In ways that only Seuss can, he was reminding us that persons come in all shapes, colors and sizes."

"Dr. Seuss's works continually remind us of the richness of human experience."

"Children(and adults) reading him may not find answers, but at least Seuss has then thinking about the questions."

The essays were very interesting as the writers used Seuss's stories and words to prove, enhance, enlighten, and argue a philosophical theory. Many of the philosophies were over my head. Dr. Seuss simplified things.

[Daniel Fernandez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dr. suess and philosiphy is a book that explores the "deep" philisophicial questions of these complex Dr. suess books. It starts off more or less interesting for the first chapter or so but then you realize that it will just repeat the same formula for the rest of the book. another thing that bothers me is that the auothor tries to expect us to beilieve was intentinal by Dr. suess him self so it's a little funny when he is talking about deep and complex philisophical ideas and then compares it with green eggs and ham

[Ala · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed reading, the what I thought then, the wacky silly Dr. Seuss stories when I was a kid. Then only when I was a parents rereading those same stories to my children and watching the newer animations that I had started my real fascinating with the deeper meanings of those stories

Since I'm an avid philosophy reader, the title of this book caught my attention. I got to say that the author have done a great job infusing both topics. Making this a journey, not only into Dr. Seuss world, but deeper into the different schools of philosophy that serves each story character.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read! I would recommend it to anyone who wants a fun book on philosophy - it can be a bit dry at times, and the chapters are written by distinct professors which provides quite a different flavor per chapter. At times this is great, making every chapter feel fresh, and at other times you move from an idea or writer that captivates your attention, only to find the next chapter quite dull.

Overall I would recommend it to everyone. It’s a great palate cleanser of a book, that provides short easily digestible and quite approachable chapters on many different well known writers or ideas.

[Bruce Reiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fine series that is interesting for young and old. Be the first to introduce your youngster to basic philosophical issues and learn something about your outlook at the same time. I especially like the fact that it is a collection of different perceptions and opinions about Seuss topics presented by people who have spent a lot of time thinking about the ultimate questions of life. Try it! You'll like it.

[Cy Siu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book with noted references to which Dr.Seuss book is being referred to. The breakdown behind the stories/philosopher's view of the stories, breaks it down to very simple terms for people to understand. It was a very enjoyable to read but you will need to take breaks in between as it can get overwhelming.

[Tristan Searle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought-provoking book full of analysis of Dr. Seuss books, digging into some of the deeper ideas behind the Doc’s intricate illustrations. I recommend to both fans of philosophy and fans of Dr. Seuss (or art/illustration in general).

[Hours · Rating 5 out of 5]

chapter 5 was my fav

[Albert Solomon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Potential but not my cup of tea

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to philosophy. I do recommend reading/youtubing the listed Dr. Seuss books as they come up.

[Linus Merchant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent insights.. wonderful read, I thought thinks like you wouldn’t believe! Read cover to cover or choose random writers... a delight.

[Doni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but needs better editing. Very redundant.

[Hina Ansari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite a slow read. I’m not sure if I’m just too far removed from my Seuss years, but this book just felt like it clunked along.

[Tonia Blankenship · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am unfamiliar with philosophers and I am familiar with Seuss. This book helped me learn which philosophers I would like to read from.

[ruthie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s toast, raise your marshmallow sticks!!!

[VC Gan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always love Dr.Seuss writing style ever since I was a kid. I find his work powerful yet extremely enlightening. This book did not disappoint me. Would definitely recommend to anyone who loves his insightful writing.

[Ali Rowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I think I enjoyed it even more for that. Instead of analyzing the works of Dr. Seuss from a philosophical perspective, the authors of the various essays in the book use Dr. Seuss's works as examples and illustrations in order to introduce the reader to various philosophies (Kant, Nietzsche, Plato, etc.) —the subject areas range from aesthetics to ethics to business. It's essentially Philosophy 101 via Dr. Seuss, and I found it an effective (and entertaining!) introduction to the subject.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Seuss's work has been readily recognized as some of the most iconic children's literature, but also some of the most poignant at providing subtle life lessons to young learners. This study of his words brings forth true philosophical adages from his simple messages of reality, optimism, and steadfastness (just to name a few). Philosophy is the study of thought and it certainly is represented soundly in this pondering study of the thinks you can think .

[Dan DalMonte · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable book that relates the stories of Dr. Seuss to philosophical themes. I actually presented one of the pieces in this book to a class I teach--it had to do with the story of Horton the elephant and Mayzie the bird and how you can approach this story from the perspective of major ethical theories such as deontological ethics, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics. This book will enhance your appreciation of Dr. Seuss as well as philosophy.

[Lynne Radcliffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading a philosphy book that was tied into one of my favorite authors, Dr. Seuss. As I have read most of the books that were used to demonstrate a point in philosphy it was interesting to read Jacob Held's ideas.
I found that this book was easier to read in "sound bites" of a chapter at a time, rather than sitting down and reading it cover to cover.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book for the first half but then it got tiresome. I liked how he weaved the Dr Seuss world into philosophy. It definitely was a new and interesting approach for me. I love Dr Seuss but have never been a fan of philosophy so it was a great way to keep me interested. Each chapter stands alone so you could just pick and choose the topics that interest you most.