DID YOU HEAR THE ONE . . .

JOKES: Philosophical Thoughts on Joking Matters

By Ted Cohen

University of Chicago, 99 pages, $15

Lawyers, taxi drivers, rabbis and priests crowd the pages of this entertaining treatise on humor–and human nature. In addition to delivering punchlines about light-bulb-changing, Ted Cohen, a professor of philosophy, examines the structures and conditions of jokes. He even offers advice on conveying moral disgust.