Comic relief
Subtitle: a comprehensive philosophy of humor
By: John Morreall ; foreword by Robert Mankoff.
Series: New directions in aesthetics
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Malden, MA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 202
ISBN-13: 9781405196123
Subjects: Wit and humor -- Philosophy
Description: 'Comic Relief' develops a comprehensive theory that integrates psychological, aesthetic, and ethical issues relating to humour.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Foreword / Robert Mankoff; title: No laughing matter : the traditional rejection of humor and; title: Traditional theories of humor; title: Humor, anarchy, and aggression; title: The superiority theory : humor as anti-social; title: The incongruity theory : humor as irrational; title: The relief theory : humor as a pressure valve; title: The minority opinion of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas : humor as playful relaxation; title: The relaxation theory of Robert Latta; title: Fight or flight or laughter : the psychology of humor; title: Humor and disengagement; title: Humor as play; title: Laughter as a play signal; title: From Lucy to I love Lucy : the evolution of humor; title: What was first funny?; title: The basic pattern in humor : the playful enjoyment of a cognitive shift; title: Is expressed in laughter; title: The worth of mirth; title: That Mona Lisa smile : the aesthetics of humor; title: Humor as aesthetic experience; title: Humor and other ways of enjoying cognitive shifts : the funny, tragic, grotesque, macabre, horrible, bizarre, and fantastic; title: Tragedy vs. comedy : is heavy better than light?; title: Enough with the jokes : spontaneous vs. prepared humor; title: Laughing at the wrong time : the negative ethics of humor; title: Traditional moral objections; title: The contemporary ethics of humor; title: A more comprehensive approach : the ethics of disengagement; title: First harmful effect of disengagement : irresponsibility; title: Second harmful effect : blocking compassion; title: Third harmful effect : promoting prejudice; title: Having a good laugh : the positive ethics of humor; title: Intellectual virtues fostered by humor; title: Moral virtues fostered by humor; title: Comedy and self-transcendence; title: Humor during the holocaust; title: Homo sapiens and homo ridens : philosophy and comedy; title: Was Socrates the first standup comedian?; title: Humor and the existentialists; title: The laughing Buddha; title: The glass is half-empty and half-full : comic wisdom.