Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy PDF Download
Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy PDF full book. Access full book title Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy by Pierre Destrée. Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.
Author: Pierre Destrée Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 0190460547 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 305
Book Description
"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"--
Author: Pierre Destrée Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 0190460547 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 305
Book Description
"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"--
Author: Dustin Peone Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers ISBN: 1666755990 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 167
Book Description
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.
Author: Mordechai Gordon Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 331900834X Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 109
Book Description
This book is a philosophical investigation of the significance of humor and laughter, examining its relation to other human phenomena including truth, nihilism, dreams, friendship, intimacy, aesthetic experience, self-transcendence and education. The author addresses the relative neglect of humor and laughter among philosophers of education with this volume, where the focus is on the significance of humor and laughter for human flourishing. Central questions are threaded through this work: What does the study of humor and laughter bring to philosophy and specifically to philosophy of education? How is humorist thinking different from other modes of human knowing? What might happen if we were to respond to the absurdity of human existence with humor and laughter? What insights can be learned from a philosophical investigation of humor in relationship to other human phenomena such as dreams, friendship, intimacy, aesthetic experience and self-transcendence? And, finally, how can humor and laughter enhance human existence and flourishing? The author presents groundbreaking insights into what can be gained from a study of humor and laughter about human existence in general and flourishing in particular. This work will be of interest to philosophers, especially philosophers of education, as well as to teachers and educators. Its unique blend of philosophical investigation and humorous discourse is both a rigorous and accessible analysis of humor.
Author: Jayme Mitsche Publisher: ISBN: 9781520120188 Category : Languages : en Pages : 105
Book Description
Laughter itself might really be a funny thing. For, while we all laugh and some of us would even prefer nothing else to laughing, nobody seems to quite know what laughter itself is. And this is puzzling. So far, humans are known as the only animals who laugh and who are in need of laughter; and we do so in many ways and for a host of reasons. Yet, none of the great minds have ever managed to say once and for all what laughter is, in its essence. But that is about to change. In "Funny Haha: The Philosophy of Laughter in Three Easy Chapters Plus One," you will learn that laughter is nothing but the physical reaction of understanding. This proposition is validated by the observation that of all human physical reactions, only laughter depends strictly on understanding. As the pivotal premise of the book, this paves the way for a systematic discussion of the constitutive elements of the "comedic" and the "comical" as expressed in what in real-life situations, as well as on the stage, is considered to be "funny," and consequently makes you laugh. Building on a conceptual distinction of the concepts above, an original philosophical examination is put forward that sheds light on what exactly goes on, for instance, when you laugh at getting tickled, when you laugh to yourself, and on why we all tend to find it "funny" when somebody falls. Drawing on examples from popular comedies such as Nathan for You, Silicon Valley, The Big Bang Theory, and Seinfeld, and on comedy acts like those of Chris Rock, John Oliver or Joan Rivers, a philosophical bridge is projected from real-life situations to staged funniness and jocularity. Thus, a comprehensive philosophical understanding emerges of what it means to be funny-haha. And, at the same time, a methodic analysis is provided of the techniques that give funny-haha its essence. After reading this book you will get to know yourself, maybe not better but a bit deeper. For you will have developed an individual consciousness of what is it that makes you laugh and what for you is haha-funny. And that might even make you more human.
Author: John Morreall Publisher: Suny Press ISBN: Category : Humor Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
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.
Author: Paul McDonald Publisher: Humanities-Ebooks ISBN: 184760238X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 138
Book Description
Comic novelist and critic Paul McDonald explores the philosophy of humour in a book that will appeal to philosophers and creative writers alike. One aim of this book is to assess theories of humour and laughter. It concentrates mainly on philosophical approaches to humour- including those of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Descartes, Hobbes, Bergson, Kant, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Freud and Bakhtin, but also explores such fields as cultural studies, literary theory, religion, psychoanalysis, and psychology; this broad focus makes for a richer account of humour, its relationship with philosophical thought, and its bearing on the human condition. Readers are invited to engage in creative writing exercises designed to exploit this crucial facet of humour, and to help them explore relevant issues imaginatively. In this way they will deepen their understanding of those issues, whilst at the same time cultivating their own creative skills. REVIEW COMMENT "The philosophical study of humour has a complex and fitful history: few people have been brave enough to write about humour seriously, and those who have tend to disagree with one another. For those seeking an entry point, Paul McDonald’s 'The Philosophy of Humour' (2012) gives a useful overview of the major theories. There are those who believe that laughter derives from a sense of superiority (Hobbes and Bergson) or from a sense of relief, or release of energy (Freud’s “economy of psychic expenditure”). But the earliest, most primal examples of humour all seem to have some sort of incongruity at their heart. McDonald gives the example of “the Lion Man figure found in 1939 in the Swabian Alps”, which is thought to be about 35,000 years old. Having the body of a lion and the legs of a man, it is thought to be one of the earliest examples of represented incongruity, dating from the time when human beings first developed “an ability to juxtapose disparate concepts”. Jonathan Coe, The Guardian.
Author: Henri Bergson Publisher: Good Press ISBN: Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 106
Book Description
"Laughter" is a collection of three essays by French philosopher Henri Bergson. It was first published in 1900. This is a rare book in which the concept of laughter is approached philosophically. Besides laughter, Bergson also approaches the phenomenon of comics as an origin of laughter.
Author: Pierre Destrée
Author: Pierre Destrée
Author: Dustin Peone
Author: Mordechai Gordon
Author: Geo. Vasey
Author: Henri Bergson
Author: Mark Alfano
Author: Jayme Mitsche
Author: John Morreall
Author: Paul McDonald
Author: Henri Bergson