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Single Idea 12172

[filed under theme 1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 8. Humour ]

Full Idea

It is a matter of indifference whether the object of amusement be thought to be real.

Gist of Idea

Objects of amusement do not have to be real

Source

Roger Scruton (Laughter [1982], §7)

Book Ref

Scruton,Roger: 'The Aesthetic Understanding' [Methuen 1983], p.159


A Reaction

Sort of. If I say 'wouldn't it be funny if someone did x?', it is probably much less funny than if I say 'apparently he really did x'. The fantasy case has to be much funnier to evoke the laughter.


The 15 ideas with the same theme [explaining the nature and sources of what is funny]:

Laughter is mad; of mirth, what doeth it? [Anon (Ecc)]
Sorrow is better than laughter [Anon (Ecc)]
Laughter is a sudden glory in realising the infirmity of others, or our own formerly [Hobbes]
Absurdity is incongruity between correct and false points of view [Schopenhauer]
Wherever there is painless contradiction there is also comedy [Kierkegaard]
Comedy is a transition from fear to exuberance [Nietzsche]
Reject wisdom that lacks laughter [Nietzsche]
The female body, when taken in its entirety, is the Phallus itself [Badiou]
Since only men laugh, it seems to be an attribute of reason [Scruton]
Amusement rests on superiority, or relief, or incongruity [Scruton]
Objects of amusement do not have to be real [Scruton]
The central object of amusement is the human [Scruton]
Humour is practically enacted philosophy [Critchley]
Humour can give a phenomenological account of existence, and point to change [Critchley]
Jokes can sometimes be funny because they are offensive [Jacobson,D]