Theories of humor: Difference between revisions

The superiority theory of humor traces back to [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]], and [[Thomas Hobbes]]' ''[[Leviathan (book)|Leviathan]]''. The general idea is that a person laughs about misfortunes of others (so called ''[[schadenfreude]]''), because these misfortunes assert the person's superiority on the background of shortcomings of others.<ref name=mn2002>M.P. Mulder, A. Nijholt (2002) [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/580062.html "Humour Research: State of the Art"]</ref> [[Socrates]] was reported by [[Plato]] as saying that the [[ridiculous]] was characterized by a display of self-ignorance.<ref>Plato, ''Philebus'' 49b ff.</ref> For [[Aristotle]], we laugh at inferior or ugly individuals, because we feel a joy at feeling superior to them.<ref>''Poetics'', 1449a, p. 34-35.</ref>

 

{{Further|Ridiculousness}}

The incongruity theory states that humor is perceived at the moment of realization of incongruity between a concept involved in a certain situation and the real objects thought to be in some relation to the concept.<ref name=mn2002/>