CFP: Lighthearted Philosophers’ Society 15th Annual Conference

The Lighthearted Philosophers’ Society (LPS) is an organization for philosophy of humor and for humorous philosophy. We strive to create a venue for professional philosophy that is welcoming, engaging, and most importantly funny. Please join us in our merry ruminations!

Our conference attracts scholars from all over the nation and around the world. We are interested in philosophy of humor and humorous philosophy from any philosophical orientation. We’d especially enjoy papers on philosophical questions about humor. We also feature an Undergraduate option, for which undergraduate students are welcome to send work in any of the submission categories listed below. (All undergraduate work should be clearly marked “UNDERGRADUATE” via a running header on all pages of the submitted document so that it can be reviewed separately.)

Submission Requirements:

All materials should be prepared for blind review; contact information, affiliation, whether you would like to volunteer as a heckler (see below), etc. should be included on a separate cover sheet. We will accept submissions in the following forms:

1) Full paper submissions: Please prepare papers with limited time for presentation in mind (2,500-3,000 words is preferable).

2) Panel proposal: Panel description should be 350-500 words, which should specify what each panelist will contribute.

3) Individual Short Performances: Submissions should include a 350-500 word rationale describing the theoretical contribution of the performance piece as well as a 350-500 word abstract describing the nature of the performance itself. Please include any audio-visual requests in the abstract.

4) Abstract submissions: Abstracts should be 350-500 words, and should be accompanied by a references/work cited page. Please note that we give preference to full papers. 

Hecklers (commentators) will accompany each accepted submission. If you are interested in volunteering to comment and are not submitting a paper, please email the conference organizer with your areas of specialization, contact information, affiliation, and indicate you would like to volunteer as a heckler. Otherwise, if you would be interested in providing a commentary, please indicate this on your submission cover sheet.

Selected papers will be considered for the Joseph S. Ellin Memorial Essay Prize ($100)

Selected hecklers will be considered for the Richard C. Richards Almost Memorial Prize ($50)

Selected undergraduate work will be considered for the Eugenio E. Zaldivar Award ($75)

Submission Deadline is August 1st, 2021. Those selected will be notified by August 15th, 2021.

Please submit your papers electronically to the following email address: [email protected].  Questions can be directed to the same address.

https://www.lightheartedphilosophers.com/

The LPS is dedicated to providing a conference experience free of harassment and all judgment, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, skin color, age, religion (or lack thereof) or language, be it in person or online. As a group of humor scholars the Lighthearted Philosophers Association appreciates the need to occasionally “work blue.” This code of conduct is not meant to censure all instances of potentially offensive language. We recognize that research into offensive humor, and aesthetics in general, can ask us to focus on works, concepts and statements that would be inappropriate in other contexts. However, this should not be used as an excuse to abdicate our responsibility to provide a safe, supportive and open-minded atmosphere at any and all LPS events. We invite you to come to LPS in a spirit of curiosity, friendliness, open-mindedness, and respect.