Showing results by author "Sophia Blackwell" in All Categories

Ever found yourself staring into the void and wished it would at least tell a good joke? Wonder how a chain-smoking French philosopher with unflattering glasses became an intellectual sex symbol? Want to understand existentialism without developing an addiction to black turtlenecks and cigarettes? "Sartre's No Exit" is the antidote to pretentious philosophical despair you've been waiting for.

What if your political identity, your core beliefs, and even your taste in snack food weren’t really yours? What if they were built out of language, hijacked by desire, and quietly manipulated by slogans, myths, and a Symbolic Order you didn’t ask to be born into? Welcome to the world of Jacques Lacan, where nothing means what it seems, and everything is your unconscious acting out.

Meet history's original keyboard warrior—except with quills, imprisonment, and better one-liners. In "Voltaire's Mic Drop," Sophia Blackwell delivers a hilarious and irreverent guide to François-Marie Arouet (aka Voltaire), the 18th-century French philosopher who trolled kings, priests, and fellow intellectuals with such devastating wit that he had to flee across national borders multiple times to avoid imprisonment.

In Plotinus Shredded, we tear through his Neoplatonic fever dream. The One? A vague cosmic buzzword that explains nothing. Emanations? A divine PowerPoint presentation gone horribly wrong. The Nous? His intellectual VIP club for thoughts too snooty for reality. The Soul? His whiny excuse to hate fun. Matter? The poor physical world he treats like a cosmic landfill. And don’t get us started on his contemplation obsession—navel-gazing dressed up as enlightenment.

Thus Spoke My Therapist: Nietzsche Without the Mental Breakdown is your one-way ticket to understanding one of history’s most misunderstood philosophers—without needing a doctorate or a prescription for existential dread.

Ever wondered why a rich Athenian who died 2,400 years ago still dominates Western thought? Or why your professor keeps talking about invisible triangles and prisoners staring at shadows? "Plato's Cave: Philosophy's First Reality Show" is the hilarious guide to Plato you never knew you needed. In this irreverent takedown of philosophy's founding father, author Sophia Blackwell translates Plato's lofty ideas into actual human language while mercilessly mocking his metaphysical obsessions, aristocratic biases, and suspicious fondness for "perfect forms."

Ever tried reading Kant and felt your brain melt into a puddle of transcendental confusion? You're not alone! "Kant You Not" is the hilarious antidote to philosophical pretension that explains Immanuel Kant's revolutionary ideas without inducing narcolepsy. In this irreverent guide to history's most unnecessarily complicated philosopher, author Sophia Blackwell translates Kantian gibberish into actual human language while mercilessly mocking his impenetrable prose, bizarre personal habits, and occasionally absurd conclusions.

Foucault's Power is the antidote to pretentious philosophical obscurity you've been waiting for. This irreverent guide takes you on a sarcasm-soaked journey through Michel Foucault's most influential ideas—from his analysis of prisons and power to his baffling observations about sexuality and truth—all while mercilessly mocking the cult of incomprehensibility that has grown around him.

Ever wanted to sound unbearably pretentious at dinner parties? Wondered how one French philosopher managed to make an entire career out of writing sentences no human being could understand? Curious why your literature professor keeps muttering about "the death of the author" while staring vacantly into space?

Are you tired of pretending to understand Hegel? Do you feel personally attacked by German idealism? Have you ever wondered if “sublation” is just a fancy word for “I have no idea what I’m saying”? Congratulations. You’ve found your people. In Hegel’s Dialectic: Making Simple Ideas Complicated Since 1807, philosophy finally gets the sarcasm-drenched takedown it deserves.

Ever wondered why your college roommate won't shut up about The Stranger? Curious about why French intellectuals spent the 1950s chain-smoking and arguing about whether you should kill yourself? Want to sound smart at dinner parties without actually reading 800 pages of dense existential philosophy? Welcome to the only Camus guide you'll ever need and the only one honest enough to admit that "imagine Sisyphus happy" is either profound wisdom or the philosophical equivalent of "good vibes only."

Sophia Anne Blackwell, the wildly irreverent creator of the Cogito Ergo Nope! series, returns with her most hilariously scathing book yet: a no-holds-barred takedown of philosophy’s greatest (and most obscurantist) offenders. From the ancient Greeks who invented making things harder than they need to be, to French theorists who turned not making sense into a career, Big Words, Small Ideas traces the glorious tradition of intellectual smoke and mirrors with biting wit and actual clarity.

Polari Salon founder Paul Burston is joined by poet and radio host Sophia Blackwell, with extracts from live LGBTQ+ literary events and in-depth backstage interviews with the authors about their books. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For 2,500 years, Western civilization's brightest minds have been having terrible ideas and convincing everyone else they're profound wisdom. From Plato's reality-denying Forms to postmodernism's truth-denying everything, philosophers have turned the act of being human into a complicated nightmare. This book exposes the nonsense that passes for profound wisdom in philosophy departments worldwide. You'll learn to spot bad ideas before they ruin your worldview, understand why smart people believe stupid things, and discover why that one philosophy major at every party is always so insufferable.

Ever wondered what would happen if someone explained existentialism without the pretentious jargon, cigarette smoke, and unbearable French ennui? Wonder no more! Existence Is Pointless (And So Is This Book) delivers all the existential dread with none of the academic torture.

Finally, an academic roast that's more entertaining than a faculty meeting where someone brought donuts! "From Bad to Worse" mercilessly skewers the most pretentious philosophical movements of the 20th century with savage wit and zero academic mercy. Journey through the incomprehensible world of structuralism and post-structuralism, where French intellectuals transformed simple ideas into impenetrable word salads while chain-smoking and looking disappointed with everyone.

This isn't your philosophy professor's translation. This is Marcus Aurelius like you've never seen him before—unfiltered, unhinged, and absolutely roasted. Our translator strips away all the reverent nonsense to reveal what the Emperor was REALLY saying.

Whether you're a philosophy enthusiast with a sense of humor or someone who's tired of being told your emotions are "irrational judgments," Stoic This delivers ancient wisdom with modern wit and just the right amount of mockery.

In "Atlas Struggled," Sophia Blackwell delivers a hilarious and scathing takedown of Ayn Rand, the failed screenwriter who somehow convinced generations of insecure men that being selfish isn't just acceptable—it's the highest moral virtue. With her signature blend of merciless mockery and genuine insight, Blackwell dissects Rand's life and philosophy, revealing how a Russian immigrant with a persecution complex created a "philosophical" system that's really just elaborate justification for being terrible to other people.

Before there was "Chicken Soup for the Soul" or "The Secret," there was a condemned Roman aristocrat writing philosophy by candlelight while awaiting execution. Meet Boethius: Rome's most overachieving nerd who went from Senate superstar to death row philosopher faster than you can say "political conspiracy."