Philosophy Now Forum

It seems to me that humour is an essential ingredient of being human. Without humour we would not be human. Yet it is an area that has been ignored by philosophers over the years. They talk about ethics and truth and duty and metaphysics but nary a hint of a mention of where humour fits into all this.

And I am not talking about philosophical jokes, I am talking about real humour.

My take on it is that humour is a response to the absurd. Someone might put together an eminently logical argument for why something 'should' be true, but the conclusion may be entirely ridiculous, to which the 'correct' response is a good belly laugh.

What do you think?

A_Seagull wrote:It seems to me that humour is an essential ingredient of being human. Without humour we would not be human. Yet it is an area that has been ignored by philosophers over the years.

It is a tragically overlooked component of the human condition. There are a few good jokes in philosophy, Descartes observation that common sense is the most equitably distributed commodity in the universe, because no man thinks he has less than his fair share is pretty sharp. As is Hume's crack about religion being proof of at least one miracle: that anyone would believe it. The most famous treatment of humour is Henri Bergson's 'Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic'. It is famous mostly for being completely unfunny. The jokes are there, but you do need a slightly off-beat sense of humour.

Nietzsche had a few belly laugh-out-loud moments. At least the second time around he did, that is if you survived the mass-depression the first time.

Arising_uk wrote:Nietzsche had a few belly laugh-out-loud moments. At least the second time around he did, that is if you survived the mass-depression the first time.

Yeah. Even Schopenhauer had his moments. Can't remember any good Hegel laughlines though.

Philosophy is famous for bad barista jokes

https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/01/25/a ... ffee-shop/

A_Seagull wrote:It seems to me that humour is an essential ingredient of being human. Without humour we would not be human. Yet it is an area that has been ignored by philosophers over the years. They talk about ethics and truth and duty and metaphysics but nary a hint of a mention of where humour fits into all this.

And I am not talking about philosophical jokes, I am talking about real humour.

My take on it is that humour is a response to the absurd. Someone might put together an eminently logical argument for why something 'should' be true, but the conclusion may be entirely ridiculous, to which the 'correct' response is a good belly laugh.

What do you think?

Humour is the only rational response to inescapable absurdity.

I've always liked this philosophy undergraduate joke,

"What do you say to a philosopher with a job?

Big Muck, large fries please."

Arising_uk wrote:I've always liked this philosophy undergraduate joke,

"What do you say to a philosopher with a job?

Big Muck, large fries please."

There's loads of "how many philosophers does it take to change a light-bulb?" jokes. Here's just three:

1. Three; one to change the light-bulb and two to debate whether they ought to, and if so, whether it follows that they can.

(2) Four; one to change the light-bulb and three to say "Yes, Socrates," "Well done, Socrates," "Good job, Socrates."

(3) Two; one to change the light-bulb and one to check what Aristotle said about changing light-bulbs.

I wouldn't be surprised if anyone here could come up with a few of their own. (Am I lowering the tone of the original question?)

I used to be a cartoonist and was known for joking around but philosophy forums - along with the US's growing desperation and humourlessness - have trained me not to kid around too much. Too often I've slipped in a joke and been crapped on from on high with claims that "you may think this is amusing but ..."

I find that people online today usually don't want jokes, tending to treat them as self-indulgent babbling with non-essential content. Hang on, no, I think it's just my jokes

Greta wrote:I used to be a cartoonist and was known for joking around but philosophy forums - along with the US's growing desperation and humourlessness - have trained me not to kid around too much.

Philosophy is far too serious a subject not to be made fun of.

Harbal wrote:

Greta wrote:I used to be a cartoonist and was known for joking around but philosophy forums - along with the US's growing desperation and humourlessness - have trained me not to kid around too much.

Philosophy is far too serious a subject not to be made fun of.

Indeed Alfred. The import of the discussions at the forum is great.

A_Seagull wrote:It seems to me that humour is an essential ingredient of being human. Without humour we would not be human. Yet it is an area that has been ignored by philosophers over the years. They talk about ethics and truth and duty and metaphysics but nary a hint of a mention of where humour fits into all this.

And I am not talking about philosophical jokes, I am talking about real humour.

My take on it is that humour is a response to the absurd. Someone might put together an eminently logical argument for why something 'should' be true, but the conclusion may be entirely ridiculous, to which the 'correct' response is a good belly laugh.

What do you think?

far too few "get" the joke...

-Imp

Arising_uk wrote:I've always liked this philosophy undergraduate joke,

"What do you say to a philosopher with a job?

Big Muck, large fries please."

Sounds even funnier when you say "Big Mac"

Ooo! You're right! Sorry, habit.

Arising_uk wrote:Ooo! You're right! Sorry, habit.

Well they served me a Big Muck the last time I was in there.