Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy

Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy
Author: Pierre Destrée
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2019
Genre: Comedy
ISBN: 9780190460563

Ancient philosophers were very interested in questions about laughter, humour and comedy. They theorized about laughter and its causes, moralized about the appropriate uses of humour and what it is appropriate to laugh at, and wrote treaties on comedic composition. This volume explores themes that were important for ancient philosophers: the psychology of laughter, the ethical and social norms governing laughter and humour, and the philosophical uses of humour and comedic technique.

Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy

Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy
Author: Pierre Destrée
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2019
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0190460547

"Ancient philosophers were very interested in the themes of laughter, humor and comedy. They theorized about laughter and its causes, moralized about the appropriate uses of humor and what it is appropriate to laugh at, and wrote treaties on comedic composition. Further, they were often merciless in ridiculing their opponents' positions, often borrowing comedic devices and techniques from comic poetry and drama to do so. The volume is organized around three themes that were important for ancient philosophers: the psychology of laughter, the ethical and social norms governing laughter and humor. and the philosophical uses of humor and comedic technique"--

Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy

Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy
Author: Pierre Destrée
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2019-08-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 019091761X

Ancient philosophers considered question about laughter, humor, and comedy to be both philosophically interesting and important. They theorized about laughter and its causes, moralized about the appropriate uses of humor and what it is appropriate to laugh at, and wrote treaties on comedic composition. They were often merciless in ridiculing their opponents' positions, borrowing comedic devices and techniques from comic poetry and drama to do so. This volume is organized around three sets of questions that illuminate the philosophical concerns and corresponding range of answers found in ancient philosophy. The first set investigates the psychology of laughter. What is going on in our minds when we laugh? What background conditions must be in place for laughter to occur? Is laughter necessarily hostile or derisive? The second set of questions concerns the ethical and social norms governing laughter and humor. When is it appropriate or inappropriate to laugh? Does laughter have a positive social function? Is there a virtue, or excellence, connected to laugher and humor? The third set of questions concerns the philosophical uses of humor and comedic technique. Do philosophers use humor exclusively in criticizing rivals, or can it play a positive educational role as well? If it can, how does philosophical humor communicate its philosophical content? This volume does not aim to settle these fascinating questions but more importantly to start a conversation about them, and serve as a reference point for discussions of laughter, humor, and comedy in ancient philosophy.

Making Philosophy Laugh

Making Philosophy Laugh
Author: Dustin Peone
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2023-10-31
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1666755990

Contemporary philosophy has adopted an increasingly tragic point of view. Tragedy, though, is only a partial truth of the human condition. Comedy is another partial truth. The nature of human existence is neither wholly the one nor the other, but tragi-comic. Philosophy must be attuned to both despair and laughter if it is to understand its own world. In Making Philosophy Laugh, the philosopher Dustin Peone makes an apology for the comic side of existence and its use in philosophy. He demonstrates the social and moral uses of humor and analyzes its significance for speculative thinking. Folly and irony are shown to be vital facets of dialectical philosophy. The reader is introduced to the comical side of Socrates and Homer, Descartes and Vico, Kant and Hegel, and many others. Finally, a doctrine of the tragi-comic sense of life is presented that does justice to all aspects of human existence and liberates the spirit from the grimness of serious thought.

The Philosophy of Laughter and Humor

The Philosophy of Laughter and Humor
Author: John Morreall
Publisher: Suny Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 1987
Genre: Humor
ISBN:

This book assesses the adequacy of the traditional theories of laughter and humor, suggests revised theories, and explores such areas as the aesthetics and ethics of humor, and the relation of amusement to other mental states. Theories of laughter and humor originated in ancient times with the view that laughter is an expression of feelings of superiority over another person. This superiority theory was held by Plato, Aristotle, and Hobbes. Another aspect of laughter, noted by Aristotle and Cicero and neglected until Kant and Schopenhauer developed it into the incongruity theory, is that laughter is often a reaction to the perception of some incongruity. According to the third and latest traditional theory, the relief theory of Herbert Spencer and Freud, laughter is the venting of superfluous nervous energy. Historical examples of all these theories are presented along with hybrid theories such as those of Descartes and Bergson. The book also features traditional explorations of the place of humor in aesthetics, drama, and literature. This is the first work in the last fifty years to include the classic sources in the philosophy of humor and the first to present theories by contemporary philosophers.

All Too Human

All Too Human
Author: Lydia L. Moland
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2018-08-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 331991331X

This book offers an analysis of humor, comedy, and laughter as philosophical topics in the 19th Century. It traces the introduction of humor as a new aesthetic category inspired by Laurence Sterne’s "Tristram Shandy" and shows Sterne’s deep influence on German aesthetic theorists of this period. Through differentiating humor from comedy, the book suggests important distinctions within the aesthetic philosophies of G.W.F. Hegel, Karl Solger, and Jean Paul Richter. The book links Kant’s underdeveloped incongruity theory of laughter to Schopenhauer’s more complete account and identifies humor’s place in the pessimistic philosophy of Julius Bahnsen. It considers how caricature functioned at the intersection of politics, aesthetics, and ethics in Karl Rosenkranz’s work, and how Kierkegaard and Nietzsche made humor central not only to their philosophical content but also to its style. The book concludes with an explication of French philosopher Henri Bergson’s claim that laughter is a response to mechanical inelasticity.

The Philosophy of Laughter and Humor

The Philosophy of Laughter and Humor
Author: John Morreall
Publisher: Suny Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 1987
Genre: Humor
ISBN:

This book assesses the adequacy of the traditional theories of laughter and humor, suggests revised theories, and explores such areas as the aesthetics and ethics of humor, and the relation of amusement to other mental states. Theories of laughter and humor originated in ancient times with the view that laughter is an expression of feelings of superiority over another person. This superiority theory was held by Plato, Aristotle, and Hobbes. Another aspect of laughter, noted by Aristotle and Cicero and neglected until Kant and Schopenhauer developed it into the incongruity theory, is that laughter is often a reaction to the perception of some incongruity. According to the third and latest traditional theory, the relief theory of Herbert Spencer and Freud, laughter is the venting of superfluous nervous energy. Historical examples of all these theories are presented along with hybrid theories such as those of Descartes and Bergson. The book also features traditional explorations of the place of humor in aesthetics, drama, and literature. This is the first work in the last fifty years to include the classic sources in the philosophy of humor and the first to present theories by contemporary philosophers.

Plato's Laughter

Plato's Laughter
Author: Sonja Madeleine Tanner
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2017-11-14
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 1438467370

Counters the long-standing, solemn interpretation of Plato’s dialogues with one centered on the philosophical and pedagogical significance of Socrates as a comic figure. Plato was described as a boor and it was said that he never laughed out loud. Yet his dialogues abound with puns, jokes, and humor. Sonja Madeleine Tanner argues that in Plato’s dialogues Socrates plays a comical hero who draws heavily from the tradition of comedy in ancient Greece, but also reforms laughter to be applicable to all persons and truly shaming to none. Socrates introduces a form of self-reflective laughter that encourages, rather than stifles, philosophical inquiry. Laughter in the dialogues—both explicit and implied—suggests a view of human nature as incongruous with ourselves, simultaneously falling short of, and superseding, our own capacities. What emerges is a picture of human nature that bears a striking resemblance to Socrates’ own, laughable depiction, one inspired by Dionysus, but one that remains ultimately intractable. The book analyzes specific instances of laughter and the comical from the Apology, Laches, Charmides, Cratylus, Euthydemus, and the Symposium to support this, and to further elucidate the philosophical consequences of recognizing Plato’s laughter.

A Philosopher Looks at the Sense of Humor

A Philosopher Looks at the Sense of Humor
Author: Richard C. Richards
Publisher:
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2013-07
Genre: Comedy
ISBN: 9780982105252

A Philosopher Looks at The Sense of Humor by Richard C. Richards is intended as a starting point for a philosophical discussion. A colleague once said that Richards writes about humor in a humorous way. He said there are serious books about humor, and humorous books, but a combination of the two occurs rarely. In this tour of the wide, wonderful world of the humorous, he touches upon such issues as what causes a sense of humor, whether it can be taught, what its value may be, how it is connected with happiness, and whether it should be placed on the endangered species list. He out of necessity explores the habitat of the amusing, the entertaining, and the comedic. There is considerable laughter in the world, and a more than abundant supply of things to laugh at. But since laughter and humor are only partially and not essentially connected, this may end up being a eulogy for the death of humor. Perhaps this book will cause it. We can only hope. This book may also be useful as a textbook in a classroom setting.

Humour

Humour
Author: Terry Eagleton
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2019-05-14
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0300244789

A compelling guide to the fundamental place of humour and comedy within Western culture—by one of its greatest exponents Written by an acknowledged master of comedy, this study reflects on the nature of humour and the functions it serves. Why do we laugh? What are we to make of the sheer variety of laughter, from braying and cackling to sniggering and chortling? Is humour subversive, or can it defuse dissent? Can we define wit? Packed with illuminating ideas and a good many excellent jokes, the book critically examines various well-known theories of humour, including the idea that it springs from incongruity and the view that it reflects a mildly sadistic form of superiority to others. Drawing on a wide range of literary and philosophical sources, Terry Eagleton moves from Aristotle and Aquinas to Hobbes, Freud, and Bakhtin, looking in particular at the psychoanalytical mechanisms underlying humour and its social and political evolution over the centuries.