Sax appeal sax appeal is an annual humorous publication of the university of cape towns rag remember and give. For those interested in philosophy, you wont want to miss our collection of free online philosophy courses. Sep 18, 2012 the book takes you on a journey through various theories of humour from the psychological to the sociological. The propensity of the state of amusement to issue in laughter is arguably what is essential to its identity, we read under humour in the routledge encyclopedia of philosophy.
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 keywords laughter wit and humor. Philosophical perspectives on humour and laughter by john lippitt dissertation submitted for the degree of m. Philosophy department university of cape town private bag x3 rondebosch 7701 south africa. Humour, it will be said, is a familyresemblance concept. No, there isnt, says trevor curnow and he shows us why someone recently told me that she was working on a book about philosophy and humour. Offers an enlightening and accessible foray into the serious business of humor. Relief theory maintains that laughter is a homeostatic mechanism by which psychological tension is reduced. He has written widely in philosophy, religion, and linguistics, and is the author of taking laughter seriously, published by suny press, and analogy and talking about god. Dec 19, 2017 gerald dworkin, distinguished professor of philosophy emeritus at uc davis, has put together another volume of philosophical humor, philosophy. Comic novelist and critic paul mcdonald explores the philosophy of humour in a book that will appeal to philosophers and creative writers alike. Comic novelist and critic paul mcdonald explores the philosophy of humour in a book that will appeal to both philosophers and creative writers alike. Humor is a surprisingly understudied topic in philosophy. It takes most people a couple of seconds to get it.
The philosophy of humour by paul mcdonald goodreads. For those seeking an entry point, paul mcdonalds the philosophy of humour 2012 gives a useful overview of the major theories. The philosophy of humour by paul mcdonald paperback lulu. Nov 23, 2019 on philosophically humorous observations. The book is an introduction to the field and an overview as well, but where the book is lacking in depth it makes up for this in being one of the few of its kind. It concentrates mainly on philosophical approaches to humour including those of plato, aristotle, cicero, descartes. See more ideas about guilt trips, philosophy and humor. Review john marmysz 2010 journal of aesthetics and art criticism 68 3. Pdf humor seems uniquely human, but it has deep biological roots. Philosophical humour, links on philosophy now website. Categories humour in aesthetics categorize this paper isbns 9780887063268 0887063268 options edit this record. Although most people value humor, philosophers have said little about it. This page features a growing list of free philosophy ebooks, presenting essential works by aristotle, hegel, kant, nietzsche, wittgenstein and many other philosophers. This video examines two theories of humour which were popular in the past.
Large selection and many more categories to choose from. More specifically, it suggests that humor may not be a wellunderstood phenomenon by questioning a widespread consensus in recent. Humor, according to relief theory, is used mainly to overcome sociocultural inhibitions. The philosophy of humor and the humor of philosophy. We will explore the limited, historical material relating to the philosophy of humour, including insights from rene descartes, immanuel kant, henri bergson and ludwig wittgenstein. It argues for the need for more publications on humor by philosophers. One aim of this book is to assess theories of humour and laughter. Rated 2 out of 5 by montteverde from needs clips from actual comedians ive only watched a couple of sessions, and while the academic side of the course seems solid, and the presenter is generally good, the lack of video clips yes, i understand that the rights probably cost too much showing. Reveals how standard theories of humor fail to explain its true nature and actually support traditional prejudices against humor as being antisocial. John morreall is associate professor of philosophy at rochester institute of technology.
A memoir the above passage is rather ambiguous does it mean that wittgenstein said such a thing in a nonfacetious tone. Parafrays, or, the writes of passage introductory philosophy quiz. Although humour is easily identifiable most of the time, identifying the features shared by every instance of humour or what is distinctive of the mental state of amusement is not an easy task. A comprehensive philosophy of humor develops an inclusive theory that integrates psychological, aesthetic, and ethical issues relating to humor. See more ideas about humor, philosophy and smbc comics. It is produced each year by an enthusiastic group of students, and sold by firstyear students to capetonians on sax appeal day in order to raise funds for the studentrun shawco students health and welfare centres organization, which serves various underprivileged communities. Humor, article in the internet encyclopedia of philosophy. A source book of literary and philosophical writings about humour and laughter.
A philosophy of humour by alan roberts 2019 english pdf. All formats available for pc, mac, ebook readers and other mobile devices. However, there has been a flurry of interest in the subject over the past few decades. Feb 04, 2018 in this video, i examine the incongruity theory of humour, which holds that humour arises in situations that set up an expectation and then violate it. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours latin. Durham etheses philosophical perspectives on humour and. Humour, therefore, has been conceptualised as the discovery and enjoyment of incongruity attardo 2009. We will assess historical and contemporary theories of what humour. It is produced each year by an enthusiastic group of students, and sold by firstyear students to capetonians on sax appeal day in order to raise funds for the studentrun shawco students health and welfare centres organization, which serves various underprivileged. The boy picks up his date and they go to a soda fountain. View philosophy of humor research papers on academia. This dissertation looks at some of the most important theories of humour and laughter, and aims to consider how. The philosophical study of humor has been focused on the development of a satisfactory definition of humor, which until recently has been treated as roughly coextensive with laughter.
Surely all this makes humour a legitimate topic to furrow a few philo sophical brows. Jim holt on philosophy and humour books the guardian. Themes in contemporary analytic philosophy as reflected in the work of monty python. Its available as an ebook here as is the first volume. A comprehensive philosophy of humor develops an inclusive theory that integrates psychological, aesthetic, and ethical issues relating to humor offers an enlightening and accessible foray into the serious business of humor reveals how standard theories of humor fail to explain its true nature and actually support traditional prejudices against humor as being antisocial. The philosophical study of humour has a complex and fitful history. The philosophy of laughter and smiling, by george vasey, 1875. Oct 24, 2008 the propensity of the state of amusement to issue in laughter is arguably what is essential to its identity, we read under humour in the routledge encyclopedia of philosophy. Humour is a funny thing everyone knows it but noone knows what it is. The philosophy of humour and laughter is a rarely studied field. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Interestingly it has been suggested that humanitys capacity for spiritual thought emerged around the same time, and. Many good links can be found here david chalmers offers many of.
The course seeks to redress the apparent tensions that exist between humour and philosophy. Rooted in the observations of thinkers like aristotle and sigmund freud, this course will leave you with a stronger appreciation of the jokes you tell and the. The philosophy of humour yoking together of man and animal creates the kind of mismatch or contradiction that is often present in humour. The international association for the philosophy of humor has been established in 2014 with the purpose of inviting philosophers from various traditions to share study of humor, laughter, and the comic, and their roles e. Humour philosophy and humor an introduction by tim madigan.
The seventyfive essential texts from antiquity to modern times. Interestingly it has been suggested that humanitys capacity for spiritual thought emerged around the same time, and that this may be related to our ability to entertain humour. Jan 31, 2018 this video examines two theories of humour which were popular in the past. Great philosophers such as plato, aristotle, kant, hobbes and schopenhauer. Philosophical humour i have to admit a now notso secret fondness for philosophy jokes. There are many theories of humor which attempt to explain what humor is, what social functions it serves, and what would be considered humorous.
Philosophy of humour the british journal of aesthetics. Sit back in your finest leather chair, pop in your gold rimmed monocle, pour yourself a glass of top shelf brandy, and enjoy your stay here at rhumor this is a place for funny things that require a little bit more thought and a longer attention span than over at rfunny which is where you should head once youve become raging drunk and switched over to beer. There are numerous competing theories of humour and laughter, and the absence of a single theory implies the importance of assessing them all. Ice cream sodas in front of them, they stare at each other for a long time, as the boys nervousness builds. In the 24 insightful andyeshumorous lectures of take my course, please. In a philosophy of humour palgrave macmillan 2019, alan roberts presents a brief but extremely well resourced overview of the history of the philosophy of humor i will omit the u for the sake of brevity, the soul of wit, and offers a new.
The aim of the book is to collect witty, entertaining, humorous, clever, insightful, brief remarks about, or relevant to, or within philosophy. Among the prevailing types of theories that attempt to account for the existence of humor, there are psychological theories, the vast majority of which consider humor to be very healthy behavior. Someone else told me he was doing the same thing a while ago. Three traditional theories of laughter and humor are examined, along with.
Philosophy of humor stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. For those seeking an entry point, paul mcdonalds the philosophy of. The philosophy of humor, professor steven gimbel guides you through philosophical theories of humor, from blatantly obvious puns to sly twists of language. This dissertation looks at some of the most important theories of humour and laughter, and aims to consider how successful or otherwise those theories have been. In this video, i examine the incongruity theory of humour, which holds that humour arises in situations that set up an expectation and then violate it. Laughter and mirth, according to relief theory, result from this release of nervous energy. It is worth noting that wittgenstein once said that a serious and good philosophical work could be written that would consist entirely of jokes without being facetious. Adrian bardon wake forest university philosophy is an unusual field of study, in that it does not concern any particular subject. This is despite the fact that many of the wests most celebrated thinkersplato, aristotle. Humor may thus for example serve to facilitate relief of the tension caused by ones fears. There are also links to william hazlitts on wit and humour 1818 and benjamin.
Jan, 2020 alan roberts a philosophy of humour aims to answer the question what is humour. Pdf the philosophy of humor thu nhan hoang academia. Among the books that introduce the philosophy of humor to newcomers, the philosophy of humour, by comic novelist and teacher of creative writing paul mcdonald, stands out for its accessibility as. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. On humour provides an insightful, entertaining, and humorous read. It concentrates mainly on philosophical approaches to humour including those of plato, aristotle, cicero, descartes, hobbes, bergson.
1104 473 1309 1240 1394 689 186 1351 105 775 1400 1026 985 886 1554 1197 1159 1058 642 367 333 1589 143 925 47 845 265 1288 613 876 1463 476 1302 543 1218 942 546 1444 21 1274 1295 363