What Does Athens Have To Do With Florida?

In a time when ethics and political philosophers are engaging some of the most difficult and consequential moral questions in recent times (gay marriage, abortion, and eugenics to name a few),  Thomas J. Brommage , a professor of philosophy at University of West Georgia, invites us to take some time off, grab a beach chair, and join him at the 5 ^th  Annual  Light-hearted Philosophers’ Conference  at Treasure Island, Florida, in October.  The LPS would like paper submissions

. . . in both the philosophy of humor and humorous philosophy from any field. Please join us in our merry ruminations! Our conference last year attracted philosophers from all over the nation—from Philadelphia to California. Now in its fifth year, the LPS is preparing for its best conference yet!!

Though our temptation may be to chuckle and dismiss,  Aristotle’s  might be the first paper submission, stained by sunscreen:

 Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit.