''This Book Needs No Title: A Budget of Living Paradoxes'' is a 1980 collection of essays about

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...

paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...

es, and philosophy, by

Raymond Smullyan Raymond Merrill Smullyan (; May 25, 1919 – February 6, 2017) was an American mathematician, magician, concert pianist, logician, Taoist, and philosopher. Born in Far Rockaway, New York, his first career was stage magic. He earned a BSc from ...

. It was first published by Prentice-Hall.

Reception

'' Kirkus Reviews'' called it "funny" and "provocative", commending Smullyan's descriptions of

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

and noting that the book could appeal to both children and adults, but conceded that Smullyan's work may be an "

acquired taste An acquired taste is an appreciation for something unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it. It is the opposite of innate taste, which is the appreciation for things that are enjoyable by most persons without ...

".THIS BOOK NEEDS NO TITLE: A Budget of Living Paradoxes
reviewed at '' Kirkus Reviews''; published May 7, 1980; retrieved May 27, 2018 ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' has described "This Book Needs No Title" as "tantalizing",HARDCOVERS IN BRIEF
reviewed at ''

the Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''; published July 27, 1997; retrieved May 27, 2018 while

Michael Dirda Michael Dirda (born 1948) is a book critic for the ''Washington Post''. He has been a Fulbright Fellow and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993. Career Having studied at Oberlin College for his undergraduate degree in 1970, Dirda took an M.A. in 1974 a ...

has declared that (along with Smullyan's earlier "What is the Name of this Book") it has "the cleverest of all titles", positing that Smullyan may have been inspired by

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...

's " Ceci n'est pas un conte".This Is a Column
by

, in ''

The American Scholar "The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his gro ...

''; published March 16, 2012; retrieved May 27, 2012

References

{{reflist Philosophy books 1980 non-fiction books Prentice Hall books