The Palgrave Handbook of the Philosophy of Humour

The Palgrave Handbook of the Philosophy of Humour gathers the best scholars in this now well-established field in order to fill a significant lacuna: to provide an accurate explanation of philosophers attitudes toward humour as an umbrella term, both historically and thematically. To that purpose, it addresses not only humour, but also laughter and the comical, as well as related terms, such as smiling, wit, jokes, caricature, irony and stand-up comedy.
 
The historic part of the Handbook presents the main philosophers and the major philosophic schools which have taken humour seriously, clarifying the ways in which it was interpreted through various periods in Western history, and engaging with additional spiritual traditions and diverse cultures in which humour was significant.
 
The thematic part is further divided into three sections. Section 1 (Humour and Related Terms) disambiguates the main notions which are associated with humour as an umbrella term, and emphasizes their role in philosophy. Section 2 (Understanding Humour) explores how humour has been understood, approaching it through various lenses. Finally, Section 3 (Humour, Ethics, and the Human Condition) addresses the main questions in the ethics of humour, such as its capacity to offend and its potential to be virtuous, and the strong ties between humour and the human predicament.
 
This Handbook is essential reading for all scholars, researchers, and advanced students of the philosophy of humour and of humour studies. It is also of interest to scholars in related fields including philosophical psychology, ethics, and the history of philosophy.

Sommario

Part 1: History - Philosophers on Humor, Laughter, and the Comical.- 1. Democritus, the Laughing Philosopher, and Heraclitus, the Weeping Philosopher.- 2 Socrates.- 3. Plato.- 4. Aristotle.- 5. Stocisim and Epicureanism.- 6. Ancient Cynicism and Skepticism.- 7. The Rhetorical Tradition in Antiquity.- 8. The Church and Medieval Christian Philosophers.- 9. Classical Islamic Philosophy.- 10. Medieval Jewish Thought Philosophy, Kabbalah, and Belles-lettres.- 11. Renaissance Philosophers.- 12. Early Modern and Modern Philosophers.- 13. Thomas Hobbes and Francis Hutcheson.- 14. Immanuel Kant.- 15. G.W.F. Hegel, German Idealism, and German Romanticism.- 16. Late Modern Philosophers.- 17. Classical American Philosophers.- 18. Henri Bergson.- 19. George Santayana.- 20. Indian Philosophy.- 21. Chinese Philosophy.- Part 2: Significant Issues.- Section A: Humor and Related Terms.- 22. Smiling.- 23. Laughter.- 24. Wit.- 25. Jokes, Puns, and Philosophy.- 26. Satire and Philosophy.- 27. Caricature.- 28. Irony, the Modern Rhetorical Tradition, and Philosophy.- 29. Comedy and Philosophy.- 30. Film Comedy.- 31. Stand-Up Comedy.- Section B: Understanding Humor.- 32. Theories of Humor.- 33. Emotions, Humor, and Meaning.- 34. Intelligence and Humor.- 35. The Cognitive Science of Humor.- 36. The Ontology of Humor.- 37. Feminism and Humor.- 38. Education and Humor.- Section C: Humor, Ethics, and the Human Condition.- 39. Offensive Humor.- 40. Humor and Virtue.- 41. The Ethics of Humor 12 Rules for Life.- 42. Nihilism and Humor.- 43. The Importance of Being Funny.- 44. Laughing with Self as Other From Homo ridens to Homo risibilis.- 45. The Unamused Life Is Not Worth Living.

Info autore

Lydia Amir teaches at the Department of Philosophy at Tufts University, USA. In addition to publications in other fields, her monographs on humour include Humor and the Good Life in Modern Philosophy: Shaftesbury, Hamann, Kierkegaard (2014), Philosophy, Humor, and the Human Condition: Taking Ridicule Seriously (2019), and The Legacy of Nietzsche’s Philosophy of Laughter: Bataille, Deleuze, and Rosset (2021). She serves as President of the International Association for the Philosophy of Humor, which she founded ten years ago.

Riassunto

The Palgrave Handbook of the Philosophy of Humour gathers the best scholars in this now well-established field in order to fill a significant lacuna: to provide an accurate explanation of philosophers’ attitudes toward humour as an umbrella term, both historically and thematically. To that purpose, it addresses not only humour, but also laughter and the comical, as well as related terms, such as smiling, wit, jokes, caricature, irony and stand-up comedy.
 
The historic part of the Handbook presents the main philosophers and the major philosophic schools which have taken humour seriously, clarifying the ways in which it was interpreted through various periods in Western history, and engaging with additional spiritual traditions and diverse cultures in which humour was significant.
 
The thematic part is further divided into three sections. Section 1 (Humour and Related Terms) disambiguates the main notions which are associated with humour as an umbrella term, and emphasizes their role in philosophy. Section 2 (Understanding Humour) explores how humour has been understood, approaching it through various lenses. Finally, Section 3 (Humour, Ethics, and the Human Condition) addresses the main questions in the ethics of humour, such as its capacity to offend and its potential to be virtuous, and the strong ties between humour and the human predicament.
 
This Handbook is essential reading for all scholars, researchers, and advanced students of the philosophy of humour and of humour studies. It is also of interest to scholars in related fields including philosophical psychology, ethics, and the history of philosophy.

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Con la collaborazione di: Lydia Amir (Editore)
• Editore: Springer, Berlin
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 30.08.2025
• EAN: 9783031862465
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3186246-5
• Pagine: 1024
• Illustrazioni: Approx. 1025 p. 1 illus.
• Categorie: Scienze umane, arte, musica > Filosofia > Altro; Satire, Subversion, Philosophie des Geistes, Soziale und politische Philosophie, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Mind, laughter, Humour, Censorship, History of Philosophy, Philosophische Traditionen und Denkschulen, Social Philosophy, stand-up Comedy, ancient philosophy, Parody, irony, Nihilism, The Comical