Published by De Gruyter

De Gruyter Studies in Philosophy of Humor

Edited by: Lydia Amir

ISSN: 2699-3481

e-ISSN 2699-349X

Overview
Volumes

De Gruyter Studies in Philosophy of Humor answers the needs of a burgeoning new field in philosophy. Edited by Lydia Amir, this unique series invites philosophers from various traditions to submit book-length manuscripts, including edited anthologies on humor, laughter, and the comic, and their roles (e.g., epistemological, ethical, aesthetic, political) within the history and practice of philosophy.

Editorial Board Members

Noël Carroll, CUNY, New York, NY, USA; Simon Critchley, The New School, New York, NY, USA; Daniel Dennett, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA; Stephen Halliwell, Emeritus, St. Andrews University, St. Andrews, UK; Kathleen Higgins, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA; John Lippitt, University of Notre Dame, Sydney, NSW, Australia; John Morreall, Emeritus, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA; Robert C. Roberts, Emeritus, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA; Quentin Skinner, Queen Mary University of London, UK.

Submissions should be sent to the Editor at lydamir [at] mail [dot] com.

Author / Editor information

Editorial Board Members

Noël Carroll, CUNY, New York, NY, USA; Simon Critchley, The New School,

New York, NY, USA; Daniel Dennett, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA;

Stephen Halliwell, Emeritus, St. Andrews University, St. Andrews, UK;

Kathleen Higgins, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA; John Lippitt,

University of Notre Dame, Sydney, NSW, Australia; John Morreall, Emeritus,

The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA; Robert C. Roberts,

Emeritus, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA; Quentin Skinner, Queen Mary

University of London, UK.

Topics

Book Ahead of Publication 2024

In on the Joke: The Ethics of Humor and Comedy

Thomas Wilk, Steven Gimbel

Volume 4 in this series

More Cite

Who is morally permitted to tell jokes about Jews? Poles? Women? Only those in the group? Only those who would be punching up? Anyone, since they are just jokes? All of the standard approaches are too broad or too narrow. In on the Joke provides a more sophisticated approach according to which each person possesses "joke capital" that can serve as "comic insurance" covering certain jokes in certain contexts. When Bob tells a joke about Jews, we can never know exactly what Bob is intending since we cannot see inside Bob’s mind. But we could reasonably infer, if we knew Bob himself was Jewish, if he worked tirelessly for Jewish causes, or was a card-carrying Neo-Nazi. Each would affect his joke capital, and, in certain circumstances, we would have a moral standing to demand to see his ledger to see how much joke capital he had with respect to Jews. The permissibility of that joke depends upon four factors: the joke, the teller of the joke, the audience, and the setting. The view developed in In on the Joke is the only view that clearly explains how each of these components work together in an integrated, effective ethic of humor.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.0000/9783110759754
ISBN:: 9783110759754
ISBN:: 9783110759853
ISBN:: 9783110760026
Subject:: Philosophy
Subject:: Ethics
Subject:: Applied Ethics
Subject:: Applied Ethics, other
Subject:: Political Philosophy and Social Philosophy
Subject:: Philosophy of Culture
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2023

Volume 3 Laughing Matters

Theses and Discussions

Giorgio Baruchello, Ársæll Már Arnarsson

Part of the multi-volume work Humour and Cruelty

Volume 3/2 in this series

More Cite

Part 2 of Volume 3 addresses in detail the conflicts between humor and cruelty, i.e., how cruelty can be unleashed against humor and, conversely, humor can be utilized against cruelty. Potent enmities to mirth and jollity are retrieved from a variety of socio-historical contexts, ranging from Europe’s medieval monasteries to the 2015 Charlie Hebdo massacre. Special attention is paid to the cruel humor and humorous cruelty arising thereof, insofar as such phenomena can reveal critical aspects of today’s neoliberal socio-economic order. In parallel, settings where humor has been used as an instrument to cope with suffered cruelty, whether natural or human in origin, are also retrieved and discussed. These also vary greatly and encompass domains such as hospital wards, 20^th-century Jewish ghettoes, and contemporary funeral homes. A set of concluding reflections is then offered on the psychological, theological, ethical, and metaphysical roots of humor—and its cruel rejection.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111256108
ISBN:: 9783111256108
ISBN:: 9783111256573
ISBN:: 9783111254555
Subject:: History
Subject:: Topics in History
Subject:: Cultural History
Subject:: Philosophy
Subject:: History of Philosophy
Subject:: Modern Philosophy
Subject:: 20th and 21st Century Philosophy
Subject:: Philosophy of Culture
Subject:: Social Sciences
Subject:: Sociology
Subject:: Culture
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2023

Volume 3 Laughing Matters

Prolegomena

Giorgio Baruchello, Ársæll Már Arnarsson

Part of the multi-volume work Humour and Cruelty

Volume 3/1 in this series

More Cite

The present book addresses the background, rationale, general structure, and particular aims and arguments characterizing our third and last volume about "humor" and "cruelty". A guiding foray is provided into the vast expert literature that can be retrieved in the Western humanities and social sciences on these two terms. Pivotal thinkers and crucial notions are duly identified, highlighted, and examined. Apposite subsidiary references are also included, especially with regard to psychodynamics and clinical psychology, existentialism, feminism, liberalism, Marxism, and representative recent studies in the philosophy of humor and its cognates. The stage is thus set for the exploration and assessment of the conflicts between humor and cruelty unfolding in Part 2 of Volume 3. Being the philosophical terminus of our entire research project, Volume 3 counterbalances, complements, and, occasionally, complexifies the numerous forms of mutual cooperation between humor and cruelty that the preceding Volume 2 had unearthed and discussed.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110760170
ISBN:: 9783110760170
ISBN:: 9783110760095
ISBN:: 9783110760224
Subject:: History
Subject:: Topics in History
Subject:: Cultural History
Subject:: Philosophy
Subject:: History of Philosophy
Subject:: Modern Philosophy
Subject:: 20th and 21st Century Philosophy
Subject:: Philosophy of Culture
Subject:: Social Sciences
Subject:: Sociology
Subject:: Culture
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2023

Volume 2 Dangerous Liaisons

Giorgio Baruchello, Ársæll Már Arnarsson

Part of the multi-volume work Humour and Cruelty

Volume 2 in this series

More Cite

Humor and cruelty can be the best of friends. Many cruel domains have facilitated hilarity of all kinds, whether experienced directly or vicariously, stretching from the torture chamber to the living room—or wherever else a screen is to be found. Conversely, many jests have provided the vehicle with which to dispense cruelty, whether callously or gleefully, in myriad settings, from public events to intimate family dinners. Combining the sources and resources of the humanities and social sciences, this book investigates the mutually supportive liaisons of humor and cruelty. We unearth the brutal, aggressive, and/or sadomasochistic roots of mockery and self-mockery, sarcasm and satire, whilst addressing contemporary debates in humor studies focusing on the thorny ethics and existential challenges arising from the acceptance of the much-appreciated yet seldom innocent channel for human interaction called "humor."

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110759846
ISBN:: 9783110759846
ISBN:: 9783110760002
ISBN:: 9783110759778
Subject:: Philosophy
Subject:: History of Philosophy
Subject:: Modern Philosophy
Subject:: 20th and 21st Century Philosophy
Subject:: Political Philosophy and Social Philosophy
Subject:: Philosophy of Culture
Publisher:: De Gruyter

Book 2022

Volume 1 A Philosophical Exploration of the Humanities and Social Sciences

Giorgio Baruchello, Ársæll Már Arnarsson

Part of the multi-volume work Humour and Cruelty

Volume 1 in this series

More Cite

Humor has been praised by philosophers and poets as a balm to soothe the sorrows that outrageous fortune’s slings and arrows cause inevitably, if not incessantly, to each and every one of us. In mundane life, having a sense of humor is seen not only as a positive trait of character, but as a social prerequisite, without which a person’s career and mating prospects are severely diminished, if not annihilated. However, humor is much more than this, and so much else. In particular, humor can accompany cruelty, inform it, sustain it, and exemplify it. Therefore, in this book, we provide a comprehensive, reasoned exploration of the vast literature on the concepts of humor and cruelty, as these have been tackled in Western philosophy, humanities, and social sciences, especially psychology. Also, the apparent cacophony of extant interpretations of these two concepts is explained as the inevitable and even useful result of the polysemy inherent to all common-sense concepts, in line with the understanding of concepts developed by M. Polanyi in the 20^th century. Thus, a thorough, nuanced grasp of their complex mutual relationship is established, and many platitudes affecting today's received views, and scholarship, are cast aside.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110759839
ISBN:: 9783110759839
ISBN:: 9783110760019
ISBN:: 9783110759761
Subject:: Philosophy
Subject:: History of Philosophy
Subject:: Modern Philosophy
Subject:: 20th and 21st Century Philosophy
Subject:: Philosophy of Culture
Subject:: Social Sciences
Subject:: Sociology
Subject:: Culture
Publisher:: De Gruyter