Publisher’s note:

Imagine you’ve eaten some hallucinogenic mushrooms—and things aren’t going well. You’re disoriented, panicking. But you can call someone. Who do you call?

For Vishal, the answer was his philosopher friend William. He has a PhD in philosophy and can deliver one hell of a talk-down to someone in an existential crisis. He helped Vishal through his bad trip by telling him about Aristotle.

That conversation inspired Ask Aristotle, a refreshingly un-schoolish introduction to one of history’s most legendary thinkers.

This book is important because it brings a powerful philosophy out of the Ivory Tower and into the real world. It even does this in a playful format—a modern spin on the Platonic dialogue, which makes the reading experience feel like eavesdropping on a fascinating conversation.

It’s the next best thing to a podcast with Aristotle.

I loved reading this exceptional story, and it’s an honor to publish it.

- Ellen