Comic Relief: A Comprehensive Philosophy of Humor

Foreword ix
Robert Mankoff

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

1 No Laughing Matter: The Traditional Rejection of Humor and Traditional Theories of Humor 1

Humor, Anarchy, and Aggression 2

The Superiority Theory: Humor as Anti-social 4

The Incongruity Theory: Humor as Irrational 9

The Relief Theory: Humor as a Pressure Valve 15

The Minority Opinion of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas: Humor as Playful Relaxation 23

The Relaxation Theory of Robert Latta 24

2 Fight or Flight – or Laughter: The Psychology of Humor 27

Humor and Disengagement 28

Humor as Play 33

Laughter as a Play Signal 36

3 From Lucy to “I Love Lucy”: The Evolution of Humor 40

What Was First Funny? 41

The Basic Pattern in Humor: The Playful Enjoyment of a Cognitive Shift is Expressed in Laughter 49

The Worth of Mirth 64

4 That Mona Lisa Smile: The Aesthetics of Humor 69

Humor as Aesthetic Experience 70

Humor and Other Ways of Enjoying Cognitive Shifts: The Funny, Tragic, Grotesque, Macabre, Horrible, Bizarre, and Fantastic 73

Tragedy vs. Comedy: Is Heavy Better than Light? 75

Enough with the Jokes: Spontaneous vs. Prepared Humor 83

5 Laughing at the Wrong Time: The Negative Ethics of Humor 90

Eight Traditional Moral Objections 91

The Shortcomings in the Contemporary Ethics of Humor 98

A More Comprehensive Approach: The Ethics of Disengagement 101

First Harmful Effect: Irresponsibility 102

Second Harmful Effect: Blocking Compassion 103

Third Harmful Effect: Promoting Prejudice 105

6 Having a Good Laugh: The Positive Ethics of Humor 111

Intellectual Virtues Fostered by Humor 112

Moral Virtues Fostered by Humor 115

Humor during the Holocaust 119

7 Homo Sapiens and Homo Ridens: Philosophy and Comedy 125

Was Socrates the First Stand-up Comedian? 126

Humor and the Existentialists 129

The Laughing Buddha 133

8 The Glass is Half-Empty and Half-Full: Comic Wisdom 139

Notes 146

Bibliography 160

Index 179