
Philosophy cartoon – a philosopher talking to a man with no insight

A searchable archive for licensing
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
St Peter is pointing out to the atheist that there is a notice on the Pearly Gates declaring “No atheists”.
The atheist is thinking “I don’t believe it!”
The joke is a play on the fact that the atheist doesn’t believe in heaven rather than that he is exasperated by the fact that he isn’t allowed in.
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
A science quote about the truth of the scientific purpose.
A riposte to anti-science
The quote is my own
A typography-based image
This quote is a riposte to the claim by anti-scientific sections of society that science peddles lies and untruths (often at the behest of big business, drug companies, governments and other interested parties). Such critics of science are often unaware of the scientific method.
by chrismadden
God doesn’t play dice with the universe – he prefers card games
A cartoon based on Einstein’s quote “God doesn’t play dice with the universe”. In the cartoon God is playing a game of cards instead
This image has been used on the cover of a pack of playing cards that was used as a gift for physics students
by chrismadden
Philosophy logo
A question mark incorporating a face
by chrismadden
Original version drawn: 2011
by chrismadden
Reality tv cartoon – showing a person watching reality tv watching a person watching reality tv – an infinite regression image
by chrismadden
Altruism cartoon
by chrismadden
The cartoon illustrates the tendency of criminal lawyers to sometimes claim, for instance, that particular parts of dna or neurological makeup are responsible for criminal behaviour – thus removing responsibility from the person and placing it on the person’s dna or neurology.
The subject of neurological origins for criminal behaviour is dealt with in the book The Anatomy of Violence by Adrian Raine
The cartoon was first published in Philosophy Now magazine
by chrismadden
The cartoon has uses as an illustration in art education or in areas of philosophy or psychology.
For a less bizarre, more child-friendly version of the same concept click here
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
The joke here is that when the tv astronomer Professor Brian Cox says that everything is made of stardust he really lays it on thick in a way that many people, especially women, find very attractive. So here the woman is actually saying that she finds Brian Cox attractive, and it even affects her attitude to slugs
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
In the cartoon the aliens have deduced that a human glove is a garment for the body and the (five) legs, while the shoe is an article of headgear like a hat.
The aliens have reached their conclusion due to their bias towards their own body forms.
A cartoon about cognitive limitations, cultural bias
by chrismadden
This cartoon makes a very negative point about the human race. Personally I think that the human race is okay, but that we tend to have too high an expectation of ourselves and an unrealistic view of the possibility that we can attain an ideal state of existence.
I drew this cartoon in the 1970s. It’s now forty years later. By coincidence I’ve just read a few articles about philosopher John Gray, who is of the opinion that the human race is not exactly the best thing to have evolved on this planet. Possibly a bit misanthropic, but not deluded in the way that some of the more shiny concepts of the nature of humanity are. John Gray’s latest book is The Silence of Animals
by chrismadden
This cartoon was drawn quite a few years ago, maybe in the 1980s. I must check.
A quite surreal cartoon, bizarre both in subject and style
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden
by chrismadden