A common stereotype of scientists.

A cartoon showing scientists as they are often depicted in the popular media, as slightly mad, eccentric ‘boffins’.

Drawn: 2009

Cartoon reference number: a922

The death of Prince Philip cartoon.

A cartoon about the large amount of news coverage of the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at the age of 99

Drawn: April 2021

Cartoon reference number: a921

A cartoon about unsustainable biofuel use.

The cartoon shows a car driving through a huge biofuel plantation. The driver of the car is saying that the plantation is so large that the nearest filling station is an hour away at the other side.

How much land is needed to grow biofuels?
A cartoon about unsustainable energy, environmental impact, biodiesel, unsustainable and sustainable land use, energy consumption, transport, petrol, oil and gas substitutes.

Drawn: 2009

Cartoon reference number: env053c

A man carrying a giant coin – burdened down by financial problems.
Also a metaphor for the burden of living within a society in which the acquisition of financial wealth is seen as a primary goal above all others.

The giant coin (here a British pound coin) is a symbol of finance in general, and of people’s dependence on the financial system.

A cartoon about money, finance, capital, capitalism, pursuit of wealth, the economy.

a738

Adult colouring book cartoon – the Henry Ford Colouring Book.

A cartoon showing an adult colouring book called Th Henry Ford Colouring Book.
There is a set of crayons or coloured pencils with the book. All of the colours are black.

A cartoon about the publishing phenomenon of colouring books aimed at the adult market.

a707

A cartoon dealing with the issue of the repatriation of cultural artefacts

The cartoon shows the issue of the repatriation of cultural artefacts from museum collections as one about cultural identity.

The inspiration behind the cartoon was the debate about the return of the Elgin Marbles or Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum to Greece – a debate that has sometimes been used by greek politicians to bolster Greek national identity (and their own careers?).
The cartoon also looks at grievance culture – the issue of identity generated through a sense of grievance.

A cartoon about ethnology, ethnography, enthographic or enthnological museum collections.

a676

Cartoon about the discovery of Neanderthal abstract art in cave

An abstract design created by Neanderthal man has been discovered in a cave in Gibraltar

The art, in the form of stone engraving, is estimated to be about 40,000 years old.

Welcome to my selection of cartoons about philosophy

To see my philosophy cartoons please click the image on the right, or the link below

Philosophy cartoons.

Beatles cartoon
Magical Mystery Tour

This cartoon conflates Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine, as the Beatles characters here are based on the Beatles characters from the animated film Yellow Submarine created by Heinz Edelmann

In the cartoon the coach from the Magical Mystery Tour has come to a stop at the top of a rainbow, which is a reference to the hippy psychedelic drug culture that was prevalent at the time of the two films. The Beatles are standing on the rainbow, with one of them asking “What did you put into the sat-nav John?”. Part of the joke in the cartoon is that sat-navs (GPDs) didn’t exist at the time. There’s also a double meaning it the phrase “What did you put into the…” as this can refer to putting hallucinogenic, pychotropic drugs such as LSD or other mind-altering drugs into such things as drinks, cakes etc.

Cartoon reference number: a391

English language cartoon – not speaking proper English

A cartoon about the way that the words ‘was like’ have replaced the word ‘said’ or ‘thought’.

A cartoon about linguistics, modern English, young people’s language, standard English, non-standard language, Queen’s English.

The use of the phrase “I was like” instead of “I said” or “I thought”

Cartoon drawn: 2012

Cartoon reference number: a373

The invention of the question mark cartoon

A cartoon about punctuation, showing medieval monks or scribes writing manuscripts. One monk is saying to the other monk “I’ve just invented the question mark”. The second monk is answering “Why” (without a question mark, because up til then question marks didn’t exist).

Cartoon drawn: 2012

Cartoon reference number: a367

A cartoon about press regulation or media corruption.
And possibly about government and business interference with the media.

The headline on the newspaper reads “Who reports on the reporters?”
Should the press be self regulating or should they be controlled? And by whom?
In a police state, press control would be a bad thing – but what about in a democracy?

The cartoon may be used to illustrate the Lord Justice Leveson inquiry into the press which is investigating media activity (especially linked to phone hacking).

The cartoon shows a person looking out through a panel in a newspaper. The meaning is meant to be slightly ambiguous. Is he on the inside or the outside of the press? He looks a bit like a spy. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Are the regulators good or bad? It depends on the country or regime under which they operate.

Cartoon reference number: a351

Optical illusion cartoon. Do you see a young woman or an old hag?

This illustration is an updated version of the classic optical illusion or ambiguous image of an old hag or a young woman

The drawing is an example of ambiguous visual information that can flip from one interpretation to another.

My own feeling is that it’s normal to see the image as being of a beautiful young woman first. The old hag is only seen after a bit of searching. There are several possible reasons for this. One is that people (especially men?) have a tendency to notice beautiful young women more than ugly old hags. Another is that the image of the old hag is more exaggerated and less naturalistic than that of the young woman.
I’ve tried to make the old hag more easily distinguishable by giving the two people in the image mirrors so that you can tell which direction they are facing.

Cartoon reference number: a320

Shard cartoon. Modern architecture cartoon

This cartoon was drawn at the time of the building of the Shard (architect- Renzo Piano) in London

Cartoon showing architects in their office looking out at a cityscape that includes modern architecture and modern buildings.

One of the modern buildings looks like a salt cellar.
The architects realise that the builders have taken their salt cellar by mistake, instead of the architectural model.
A cartoon about the trend in modern architecture for oddly shaped buildings. Such unconventionally shaped buildings include the ‘Gherkin‘ and the Shard of Glass. Not to mention Anish Kapoor’s Orbit tower and City Hall.
Soon cities like London will end up looking as though they are full of modernist architecture in the form of giant kitchen utensils (the cheese grater) and cruet sets or condiment sets (salt cellars and pepper pots).

Cartoon reference number: a309

Soldier firing a water pistol ‘street art’ illustration

This cartoon has a number of meanings.

One is that the games that children play are more serious than some people would like to think. Play is a preparation for adulthood, so playing with toy guns is in some ways an actual preparation for using real guns in adult life.
The soldier is using a toy water gun to highlight the link between childhood play and adult aggression.
The illustration is definitely not a simple interpretation of the feminist phrase toys for the boys – an expression that I take strong exception to as it misinterprets the nature of play and attempts to trivialise and infantilise the male personality.
While I was drawing this picture it occurred to me that it had something of a piece of Banksy artwork to it, in both its subject matter and its style, so I checked that I wasn’t just unconsciously copying a piece of Banksy graffiti, and as far as I can tell there is no equivalent Banksy picture. By the way, I’ve drawn in this style and on this type of subject for more years than I wish to remember, so there’s no question of Banksy plagiarism involved here!
A cartoon about the nature of play, toy guns, warfare, male aggression, toy weapons, water cannon, male psyche, psychology of warfare, the military mind.

Cartoon reference number: a305

Caricature – Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher cartoon

A cartoon of Margaret Thatcher as a lion under Nelson’s Column.
The cartoon includes several references to political issues of the Thatcher era.

The cartoon was commissioned by Pluto Press

Cartoon reference number: a489

Cartoon showing the dove of peace emerging or hatching from a bomb.

Artwork showing the dove of peace.

An anti-war illustration showing a peace dove emerging from a bomb.
The symbolism in the cartoon is that peace can follow the violence of war.

Cartoon drawn: 2011

Cartoon reference: dove1