Making Philosophy Laugh: Humor, Irony, and Folly in Philosophical Thought
Ebook
Contemporary philosophy has adopted an increasingly tragic point of view. Tragedy, though, is only a partial truth of the human condition. Comedy is another partial truth. The nature of human existence is neither wholly the one nor the other, but tragi-comic. Philosophy must be attuned to both despair and laughter if it is to understand its own world.
In Making Philosophy Laugh, the philosopher Dustin Peone makes an apology for the comic side of existence and its use in philosophy. He demonstrates the social and moral uses of humor and analyzes its significance for speculative thinking. Folly and irony are shown to be vital facets of dialectical philosophy. The reader is introduced to the comical side of Socrates and Homer, Descartes and Vico, Kant and Hegel, and many others. Finally, a doctrine of the tragi-comic sense of life is presented that does justice to all aspects of human existence and liberates the spirit from the grimness of serious thought.
“A highly readable retelling of the Western canonical view of humor. This philosophical take brings the comic in a rapprochement with the tragic that culminates in the elevated stance of the absurd.”
—Cynthia Willett, professor of philosophy, Emory University
“The book ‘meanders speculatively,’ as Peone puts it, and does little harm to our understanding of humor on this stroll. It rather reminds us in a pleasant way of what a lot of philosophers have said about the many sides of humor without having to take one.”
—Christian F. Hempelmann, editor-in-chief, HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research
“Dustin Peone takes an engaging look into many underappreciated ways in which philosophy reveals positive uses of humor for developing political awareness and advancing the individual search for meaning and truth. Through insightful and illuminating readings of a myriad of philosophers including Plato, Shaftesbury, and Vico, Peone convincingly argues that humor can invert our expectations of the world to reveal aspects of our reality that people often overlook to their detriment.”
—Alexander Bertland, associate professor of philosophy, Niagara University
“Humor, according to Dustin Peone, is an essentially human activity, and this wonderful book is a monumental exploration of humor, of humanity, and of the humanities. Its breadth and depth make it a must-read in contemporary philosophy of humor.”
—Steve Gimbel, professor of philosophy, Gettysburg College
- Title: Making Philosophy Laugh: Humor, Irony, and Folly in Philosophical Thought
- Author: Dustin Peone
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666756012, 9781666755992, 1666755990, 9781666756005, 1666756008, 1666756016
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666756012
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-12-05T22:04:33Z
Dustin Peone is instructor of liberal studies at Mercer University and a fellow of the Institute for Vico Studies in Atlanta. He has taught philosophy and core studies at Emory University and Oglethorpe University. He is also the author of Memory as Philosophy, Plague Literature, and Shame, Fame, and the Technological Mentality.