Brian Robinson is assistant professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

• Introduction: The Moral Psychology of AmusementBrian RobinsonPART I: Amusement and Moral Judgments1LOL: What We Can Learn from Forced LaughterDan Shargel2An Interactional Sociolinguist Engages The Moral Psychology of AmusementCatherine Evans Davies3It’s All Fun and Games until Someone Gets Hurt: Amusement’s Negative Influence on Moral JudgmentNathan StoutPART II: Moral Judgments of Amusement4Beyond A Joke: A Defence of Comic MoralismAlan Roberts5That’s Not FunnyBrian Mondy6The Ethics of HumourTristan NashPART III: Social Moral Judgments of Amusement7You Shouldn’t Have Laughed! The Ethics of Derogatory AmusementAndrew Morgan and Ralph DiFranco8Amused by the Outrageous: The Morally Tempering Effect of News SatireRasmus Rosenberg Larsen and David Sackris9Eutrapelia and the Normativity of Social HumorAndrew Jordan and Stephanie PatridgePART IV: Ancient Perspectives on The Moral Judgments of Amusement10Amusement, Happiness, and the Good Life in Plato’s

The academic study of humor is marvelously interdisciplinary. It draws on insights from philosophy, psychology, linguistics, sociology, classics, and the actual performance of humor in everyday life to create a rich body of work on a complex part of the human experience. In this lively, much-needed volume, Robinson brings together a wide-ranging selection of writing on amusement (the characteristic emotion of humor) and its various moral implications. Written by contributors across the disciplinary spectrum, the essays cover subjects from the basic question of what amusement is and how its relationship with moral judgment works to deeper matters, such as amusement’s actual moral effects. The book also includes some helpful groundwork in the ancient sources (Plato, Zhuangzi) on which more contemporary accounts may distantly depend. Although the underlying themes of the book are philosophical in nature, each essay looks at its subject in terms of social, linguistic, and psychological concerns, making the volume a largely applied rather than purely theoretical endeavor. The writing is engaging and accessible, and the contributors do a very good job of connecting readers to current debates on the subject without resorting to confusing cross-referencing. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.

Brian Robinson is assistant professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

• Introduction: The Moral Psychology of AmusementBrian RobinsonPART I: Amusement and Moral Judgments1LOL: What We Can Learn from Forced LaughterDan Shargel2An Interactional Sociolinguist Engages The Moral Psychology of AmusementCatherine Evans Davies3It’s All Fun and Games until Someone Gets Hurt: Amusement’s Negative Influence on Moral JudgmentNathan StoutPART II: Moral Judgments of Amusement4Beyond A Joke: A Defence of Comic MoralismAlan Roberts5That’s Not FunnyBrian Mondy6The Ethics of HumourTristan NashPART III: Social Moral Judgments of Amusement7You Shouldn’t Have Laughed! The Ethics of Derogatory AmusementAndrew Morgan and Ralph DiFranco8Amused by the Outrageous: The Morally Tempering Effect of News SatireRasmus Rosenberg Larsen and David Sackris9Eutrapelia and the Normativity of Social HumorAndrew Jordan and Stephanie PatridgePART IV: Ancient Perspectives on The Moral Judgments of Amusement10Amusement, Happiness, and the Good Life in Plato’s

The academic study of humor is marvelously interdisciplinary. It draws on insights from philosophy, psychology, linguistics, sociology, classics, and the actual performance of humor in everyday life to create a rich body of work on a complex part of the human experience. In this lively, much-needed volume, Robinson brings together a wide-ranging selection of writing on amusement (the characteristic emotion of humor) and its various moral implications. Written by contributors across the disciplinary spectrum, the essays cover subjects from the basic question of what amusement is and how its relationship with moral judgment works to deeper matters, such as amusement’s actual moral effects. The book also includes some helpful groundwork in the ancient sources (Plato, Zhuangzi) on which more contemporary accounts may distantly depend. Although the underlying themes of the book are philosophical in nature, each essay looks at its subject in terms of social, linguistic, and psychological concerns, making the volume a largely applied rather than purely theoretical endeavor. The writing is engaging and accessible, and the contributors do a very good job of connecting readers to current debates on the subject without resorting to confusing cross-referencing. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.

Brian Robinson is assistant professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

• Introduction: The Moral Psychology of AmusementBrian RobinsonPART I: Amusement and Moral Judgments1LOL: What We Can Learn from Forced LaughterDan Shargel2An Interactional Sociolinguist Engages The Moral Psychology of AmusementCatherine Evans Davies3It’s All Fun and Games until Someone Gets Hurt: Amusement’s Negative Influence on Moral JudgmentNathan StoutPART II: Moral Judgments of Amusement4Beyond A Joke: A Defence of Comic MoralismAlan Roberts5That’s Not FunnyBrian Mondy6The Ethics of HumourTristan NashPART III: Social Moral Judgments of Amusement7You Shouldn’t Have Laughed! The Ethics of Derogatory AmusementAndrew Morgan and Ralph DiFranco8Amused by the Outrageous: The Morally Tempering Effect of News SatireRasmus Rosenberg Larsen and David Sackris9Eutrapelia and the Normativity of Social HumorAndrew Jordan and Stephanie PatridgePART IV: Ancient Perspectives on The Moral Judgments of Amusement10Amusement, Happiness, and the Good Life in Plato’s

The academic study of humor is marvelously interdisciplinary. It draws on insights from philosophy, psychology, linguistics, sociology, classics, and the actual performance of humor in everyday life to create a rich body of work on a complex part of the human experience. In this lively, much-needed volume, Robinson brings together a wide-ranging selection of writing on amusement (the characteristic emotion of humor) and its various moral implications. Written by contributors across the disciplinary spectrum, the essays cover subjects from the basic question of what amusement is and how its relationship with moral judgment works to deeper matters, such as amusement’s actual moral effects. The book also includes some helpful groundwork in the ancient sources (Plato, Zhuangzi) on which more contemporary accounts may distantly depend. Although the underlying themes of the book are philosophical in nature, each essay looks at its subject in terms of social, linguistic, and psychological concerns, making the volume a largely applied rather than purely theoretical endeavor. The writing is engaging and accessible, and the contributors do a very good job of connecting readers to current debates on the subject without resorting to confusing cross-referencing. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.