more from this thinker     |     more from this text


Single Idea 7494

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

Full Idea

I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, what doeth it?

Gist of Idea

Laughter is mad; of mirth, what doeth it?

Source

Anon (Ecc) (21: Book of Ecclesiastes [c.200 BCE], 02.02)

Book Ref

'The Bible', ed/tr. the Church [Collins 1950], p.326


A Reaction

Not much of an argument, but an interesting support for the extreme anti-hedonistic puritanical view. Most people would praise laughter as an end in itself, so 'what doeth it?' seems to miss the point.


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]