Take my Course, Please! : the Philosophy of Humor

Locations
Call Number: DVD 809.7 Gi Oversize
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 2-week checkout	DVD 809.7 Gi Oversize	2-week checkout	On Shelf

"Course No. 4156"--Container.
Lecturer: Professor Steven Gimbel.
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. Rooted in analytic philosophy, the natural and social sciences, and the observations of thinkers ranging from Aristotle and Jonathan Swift to Sigmund Freud and Robert Latta, these lectures will leave you with a stronger appreciation of the jokes you tell and the jokes you hear. You'll ponder the possible universality of humor in history and culture, the debate over humor's objectivity or subjectivity, and the complex relationship between humor and tragedy. You'll also unpack each of the six existing theories of humor, including the superiority theory (in which to joke is to mock and put someone beneath your level) and play theory (in which humor is a species of the phenomenon of play). You don't need a philosophy degree to explore the philosophy of humor. All you need is an open mind. (A funny bone or two helps, as well.).
DVD; Dolby surround; region 1.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

A Mixed Review submitted by GJBarnett2 on July 26, 2019, 10:32pm An interesting albeit highly philosophical approach to the nature and physiological and theoretical bases of humor but becomes extremely political in the last few episodes.