There's not much hot news from Classical Greek Philosophy. My story is basically the same:

My name originates in a philosopher joke. That sounds like a contradiction in terms. Philosophers are not known for a lively sense of humor.

It happened this way. One day in the agora, Plato was discussing the whichness of why with his disciples. Somebody asked, “What is a man?” Plato replied “Man is a featherless biped.” That sounds silly, but it’s not the joke.

The joker was Diogenes. Personally I wouldn’t look to Diogenes for a sense of humor. He was a sour and embittered sort, even for a philosopher. But he was the original Cynic, so what can you expect? Nevertheless, the man was guilty of two philosopher jokes. One was wandering through Athens carrying a lit lamp in broad daylight. When asked why, Diogenes replied, “I’m looking for an honest man.” He never found one.

Then Plato defined man, and was much praised for his acumen. Diogenes heard the story and was unimpressed. The next day Diogenes brought a living plucked [censored] to the Academy. Diogenes threw the naked—and thoroughly irritated—bird in front of Plato and asked "Is this a man, then?"

Now you know why professors of philosophy don't make good stand-up comics. Plato amended his definition to “Man is a featherless biped with broad nails.”

If you tell this story in Latin, "featherless biped" is animal bipes implume.