Here’s an accusation - Sherlock Holmes never deduced anything. When it comes to language, it all depends on what your definition of ‘is’ is. And one for the existentialists - you haven’t lived until you think about death all the time.

Crammed with over one hundred jokes and graced by the occasional cartoon, written in a Marxist style (Groucho’s, not Karl’s) and featuring frequent appearances from a comic two-man Greek chorus, Plato and a Platypus is a hilarious romp through the classic areas of philosophy. Don’t be put off by the seriousness of the contents page, what follows is anything but.