If Minds Had Toes

In the World of Ideas, the bizarre netherworld Eyre creates in her debut, dead philosophers engage in daily debates, everything tastes like cheese and Socrates reigns as president and believes philosophy is a life-enriching pastime. So when curmudgeonly Ludwig Wittgenstein argues that philosophy isn't beneficial to the common man, Socrates wagers his presidency that he can prove Wittgenstein wrong. Lila Frost, Socrates's secretary, is entrusted to locate a candidate from "Over There," the world of the living; the only requirement is that the chosen one must be young enough not to be jaded. Lila pops into U.K. fish and chips shop Cod Almighty where 15-year-old Ben Warner works, and after a tête-à-tête and a handful of chips, Ben travels (via a portal located in his bathroom) to the World of Ideas, where he's immersed in discussions about whether the senses are reliable, if mind can triumph over matter and what makes an individual, well, individual. The forays into the magical world are littered with sly bits of humor, though the narrative gets bogged down in lengthy philosophical discourses. Still, the novel succeeds in making the case that philosophy isn't just for beard-strokers. (Mar.)