So, Jean-Paul Sartre walks into a cafe...

So, Jean-Paul Sartre walks into a cafe and says to the waitress, "I'd like a cup of coffee, please, with no cream." And the waitress replies, "I'm sorry, monsieur, but we're out of cream. How about with no milk?"

Ka-boom-boom.

Welcome to that esosteric philosophical sub-specialty, philosophy humor. A survey of the current literature reveals it to be a field which attracts few practitioners, one of the possible reasons being that developing a considerable body of work in the specialty makes little impression, if any, on tenure committees. Still, a small band of devotees has toiled fitfully down the ages to keep this rather obscure calling alive, and determined users of the Internet dedicated to the topic will find a number of Web sites to divert them.

Herein follows a short tour of some of the sites devoted to philosophy humor, along with a sampling of their offerings:

A good place to start your tour is Howard Pospesel's site Philosopher Jokes at the University of Miami.

Question: What do you get when you cross the Godfather with a philosopher?
Answer: An offer you can't understand.

Question: What is a recent philosophy Ph.D.'s usual question in his or her first job?
Answer: "Would you like french fries with that, sir?"

A boy is about to go on his first date, and is nervous about what to talk about. He asks his father for advice. The father replies: "My son, there are three subjects that always work. These are food, family, and philosophy."

The boy picks up his date and they go to a soda fountain. Ice cream sodas in front of them, they stare at each other for a long time, as the boy's nervousness builds. He remembers his father's advice, and chooses the first topic. He asks the girl: "Do you like potato pancakes?" She says "No," and the silence returns.

After a few more uncomfortable minutes, the boy thinks of his father's suggestion and turns to the second item on the list. He asks, "Do you have a brother?" Again, the girl says "No" and there is silence once again.

The boy then plays his last card. He thinks of his father's advice and asks the girl the following question: "If you had a brother, would he like potato pancakes?"

Also a must-visit destination is David Chalmers' site at California-Santa Cruz, Philosophical Humor, which provides one of the longest lists of links (with some dead, I'm sorry to report) to such sites around the Internet.

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