Card 6.27 · Root VI — The Philosophy of X Family
Philosophy of Humour
Why is anything funny?
Philosophy of humour asks what makes something funny, and what laughter is doing.
Where it sits
Under VI. Philosophy of X. Borders 5.6 Art and morality, 6.23 Philosophy of emotion, 4.2.3 Rhetoric.
The rival answers
| Theory | Humour arises from |
|---|---|
| Superiority | Feeling raised above others' failings |
| Relief | Discharge of built-up nervous energy |
| Incongruity | A violation of expectation, resolved harmlessly |
| Benign violation | Something wrong that is simultaneously safe |
| Play theory | A mode of non-serious engagement, akin to games |
Key figures
| Figure | Dates | Tradition | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plato and Aristotle | 4th c. BCE | Greek | Laughter at the ridiculous; suspicion of it |
| Al-Jahiz | c. 776–869 | Islamic | Serious treatment of jest and earnest |
| Thomas Hobbes | 1588–1679 | European modern | Sudden glory; the superiority theory |
| Immanuel Kant | 1724–1804 | European modern | Strained expectation reduced to nothing |
| Henri Bergson | 1859–1941 | French | The mechanical encrusted on the living |
Connections
→ 5.6 · ↔ 6.23, 4.2.3, 6.25, 6.31 · ◇ superiority theory, incongruity theory, benign violation · ○ Axial Age; Early modern; Modern; Table 10
→ narrower questions · ↔ questions it borders · ◇ the positions, mapped in Part III of the book · ○ the eras and comparison tables (Parts IV and V)
The full card is in the book
In The Coordinates of Thought this card goes on to a worked example that sets the answers against one case, and to where the question touches daily life — page 330.
On Coordinates of Thought
Conversations about this question in Play, sport & humour:
- Hobbes’s ‘sudden glory’ explains far more laughter than its critics admit 6 replies
- Why a joke dies in Leeds and kills in Salford: notes from a stand-up 6 replies
- A deliberate foul that accepts its penalty is still a move within the game 6 replies
- What does Kant mean when he says laughter is an expectation turning into nothing? 6 replies
- If a cheat wins the match, has he even played the game? Help me with Suits 6 replies
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