Aristotle's Philosophy Of Humor

Nicomachean Ethics IV, Book 8 by Aristotle Humor has proven to be a trait that makes many feel good and has led some to strive to obtain this trait throughout their lives, whether it be in their partners, their career, or in every aspect of their life. Humor is such a vitally important part of our life, but how do we decide what’s funny? Aristotle is one of the few philosophers who has touched on the philosophy of humor, thus making his ideas that much more important as he has influenced most of the prominent theories regarding the philosophy of humor. The philosophy of humor can be separated into three different groups, the theories of incongruity, superiority, and relief. The Incongruity Theory has been proposed by philosophers such

This is the reigning theory of humor, with the superiority theory stating that the cause of laughter is due to a feeling of superiority and the relief theory stating that we laugh because it is a release of energy. In Rhetoric, Aristotle makes reference to the Incongruity Theory of humor. He argues that a way to get someone to life is to create an expectation and then do the opposite of that. The Incongruity theory is the most likely, but why is this? For one, the Incongruity Theory covers the widest range of experience as opposed to the Superiority Theory and the Relief Theory. However, although the Incongruity Theory is the reigning theory of philosophy among philosophers, it can be argued that the theories of incongruity, superiority, and relief, all work in tandem in order to account for humor. In opposition, to the theory that the three theories work in tandem the Incongruity Theory is an ultimate theory that encompasses the other two theories. The unexpected makes people nervous which accounts for laughing to release energy, which is the basis of the Relief Theory. The unexpected also makes people feel superior because those in the position of inferiority do things that are unexpected, which is the basis of the Superiority Theory. Thus, making the Incongruity

A buffoon is a person that will do anything for a laugh. “Those who carry humor to excess are thought to be vulgar buffoons, striving after humor at all costs, and aiming rather at raising a laugh than at saying what is becoming and at avoiding pain to the object of their fun…” (Aristotle, Book 8). A buffoon will even go as far as to sacrifice themselves for a laugh. The opposite of the buffoon is the boor. The boor refuses to entertain, and is in direct contrast to the buffoon, “…while those who can neither make a joke themselves nor put up with those who do are thought to be boorish and unpolished.” The witty, tactful man is in-between the buffoon and the boor. They are able to entertain in social settings without pushing the limits as the buffoon does. The difference between the buffoon and the witty, tactful man is that the buffoon, “…is the slave of his sense of humor, and spares neither himself nor others if he can raise a laugh, and says things none of which a man of refinement would say, and to some of which he would not even listen” (Aristotle, Book 8). The buffoon is not able to instinctively form a humor that is appropriate for each group, while the buffoon may get lucky and employ a humor that is similar to that of the witty man in some situations, generally, the buffoon will give up all social norms for his sense of humor. In