Showing results for "Humor" in Philosophy

Written by an acknowledged master of comedy, this study reflects on the nature of humor and the functions it serves. Why do we laugh? What are we to make of the sheer variety of laughter, from braying and cackling to sniggering and chortling? Is humor subversive, or can it defuse dissent? Can we define wit?

Can jokes win a hostile room, a hopeless argument, or even an election? You bet they can, according to Cicero, and he knew what he was talking about. One of Rome's greatest politicians, speakers, and lawyers, Cicero was also reputedly one of antiquity's funniest people. After he was elected commander-in-chief and head of state, his enemies even started calling him "the stand-up Consul". How to Tell a Joke provides a lively new translation of Cicero's essential writing on humor alongside that of the later Roman orator and educator Quintilian.

In recent decades, the philosophy of humor has been recognized as a legitimate subfield of philosophy. The reason for this? Because to understand how humor works is to better understand the nature of human experience. In these 24 insightful, informative, illuminating, and (yes) humorous lectures, explore the philosophical theories and explanations of humor, from blatantly obvious puns to complex narratives to sly twists of language.

In this intimate and funny collection of essays on the sometimes confusing, sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious condition of being a woman over 60, Susan Moon keeps her sense of humor and she keeps her listener fully engaged. Among the pieces she has included here are an essay on the gratitude she feels for her weakening bones; observations on finding herself both an orphan and a matriarch following the death of her mother; musings on her tendency to regret the past.

An informative, fun and rather charming essay on the nature and history of one of life’s most desirable assets, Charm, by renowned culture and design critic, Stephen Bayley. Aiming to wound, a schoolmaster wrote on future design-guru Stephen Bayley’s last ever school report “Charm alone...

A celebration of the brave, drunken pioneers who built our civilization one seemingly bad decision at a time, A Brief History of Vice explores a side of the past that mainstream history books prefer to hide. History has never been more fun—or more intoxicating. Guns, germs, and steel might...

A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST-READ BOOK A groundbreaking new perspective on the moral mind that rewrites our understanding of where moral judgments come from, and how we can overcome the feelings of outrage that so often divide us "A riveting read. . . . Overturns widespread assumptions about...

From the authors of the bestselling Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . ., a new book on the meaning of death (and life, too)...

Nada hay más cómico que alguien convencido de salirse con la suya cuando está siendo embaucado. Entre las tragedias que se siguen de la codiciosa comedia puesta en práctica como Desarrollo está el desplazamiento de la riqueza desde el ser al tener. La riqueza que se tiene nunca desbordará...

Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and Renaissance humanist. Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire. He wrote Utopia, published in 1516, about an imaginary island society and its religious, social, and political customs. While imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1534, he wrote A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation. It is a fictional dialogue focusing on the comfort of God in distress, the benefits of suffering, atonement for evil acts, faintheartedness and the temptation to suicide.

La inteligencia y la astucia nunca son aburridas. Hemos seleccionado para ustedes 500 citas de los autores más ingeniosos de la historia, desde Oscar Wilde a Groucho Marx, George Bernard Shaw, Albert Einstein con la ayuda de Woody Allen. Disfrute de estas perlas de humor para alegrar su día con una buena carcajada, descubra comentarios y chistes de valor incalculable con los que sorprender a sus amigos y enemigos, y déle la mano a las mentes más brillantes

A playful and moving book of essays by a "born storyteller" (Seattle Times) who invites us into the miraculous and transcendent moments of the everyday When Brian Doyle passed away at the age of sixty after a bout with brain cancer, he left behind a cult-like following of devoted readers who...

A inteligência e a esperteza nunca são aborrecidas. Seleccionámos para si 500 citações dos autores mais espirituosos de sempre, de Oscar Wilde a Groucho Marx, George Bernard Shaw, Albert Einstein com a ajuda de Woody Allen. Desfrute destas pérolas de humor para alegrar o seu dia com uma boa gargalhada, descubra comentários e piadas inestimáveis para surpreender os seus amigos e inimigos, e aperte as mãos com as maiores mentes.

Intelligens och skicklighet är aldrig tråkigt. Vi har valt 500 citat från de skickligaste författarna någonsin, från Oscar Wilde till Groucho Marx, George Bernard Shaw, Albert Einstein med hjälp av Woody Allen. Njut av dessa humorpärlor för att lysa upp din dag med ett gott skratt, upptäck ovärderliga kommentarer och skämt att överraska dina vänner och fiender med och skaka hand med de största sinnen. Dessa 500 citat är bland de roligaste och djupaste, från smarta kommentarer till otroligt eleganta ordlekar; låt dem inspirera dig, och kan du komma med många fler.

Dangerous Jokes develops a novel, well-researched, and compelling argument that lays bare the power of demeaning jokes in ordinary conversations. Claire Horisk draws on her expertise in philosophy of language and on evidence from sociology, law, and cognitive science to explain how the element of humor—so often used as a defense—makes jokes more potent than regular speech in communicating prejudice and reinforcing social hierarchies.

Humor is a truly human phenomenon - crossing history, culture, and every stage of life. Jokes often touch on the biggest topics of our existence. And although it may seem simple on the surface, humor depends on the use of our highest faculties: language, intelligence, sympathy, sociability. To the philosopher Steve Wilkens, these facts about humor are evidence that God just has to be in there somewhere. Yet many Christians, scholars and laypeople alike, haven't taken humor seriously.

In seinem neuen Hörbuch mit Sprachglossen geht Wiglaf Droste auf Entdeckungsreise zur Wortschatzinsel. Droste ließ einen "romantischen Fächeraufguss" über sich ergehen, stattete dem Kopf des Bundespräsidenten Wulff einen Besuch ab und hat diese psychedelischen Erlebnisse genauso überlebt wie das "Multitasking im Rollkofferkrieg".

Make America Great Again? Donald Trump is an asshole is a fact widely agreed upon—even by his supporters, who actually like that about him. But his startling political rise makes the question of just what sort of asshole he is, and how his assholedom may help to explain his success, one not...

Tale.vent is a poet, who loves to talk, about life in general, about spirituality, about humor and has an opinion on everything he comes across, in this dimension or any other dimension he visits 😊😊... He speaks in Hindi and English...or Hinglish...

More than just a 724 point list, this book is part philosophy, part poetry and part standup comedy routine. It will change the way you write, change the way you think, and ultimately change the way you live. Winners and Losers is a thought provoking and sometimes controversial examination of the human character. Every page is guaranteed to provoke discussion, dissonance and laughter.