On humour / Simon Critchley.

By:

Critchley, Simon, 1960-

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Thinking in actionPublication details: New York : Routledge, 2002.Description: ix, 132 p. : ill. ; 21 cmISBN:

0415251206
0415251214 (pbk.)

Subject(s):

Wit and humor -- History and criticism

DDC classification:

152.4 CRI

Online resources:

Publisher description

Summary: Does humour make us human, or do the cats and dogs laugh along with us? On Humour is a fascinating and beautifully written book on what philosophy can tell us about humour and about what it is to be human. Simon Critchley skilfully probes some of the most perennial but least understood features of humour, such as our tendency to laugh at animals and our bodies, why we mock death with comedy and why we think it's funny when people act like machines. He also looks as the darker side of humour, as rife in sexism and racism and argues that is important for reminding of us of people we would rather not be. By examining what is required to laugh at oneself and the idea of humour as a form of everyday common sense, On Humour also argues that we place the comical at the very centre stage of psychology. From Aristotle, Hobbes, and Freud to Samuel Beckett, Charlie Chaplin and Will Self, On Humour turns the comical inside out to reveal some delectable insights about what we find funny. Above all, Simon Critchley argues that humour can tell us much about the human condition, the meaning of life and why comedy itself begins in philosophy--Publisher's blurb.

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Standard Loan	LSAD Library Main Collection	152.4 CRI (Browse shelf(Opens below))	1	Available		39002000373556

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Does humour make us human, or do the cats and dogs laugh along with us? On Humour is a fascinating, beautifully written and funny book on what humour can tell us about being human. Simon Critchley skilfully probes some of the most perennial but least understood aspects of humour, such as our tendency to laugh at animals and our bodies, why we mock death with comedy and why we think it's funny when people act like machines. He also looks at the darker side of humour, as rife in sexism and racism and argues that it is important for reminding us of people we would rather not be.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Does humour make us human, or do the cats and dogs laugh along with us? On Humour is a fascinating and beautifully written book on what philosophy can tell us about humour and about what it is to be human. Simon Critchley skilfully probes some of the most perennial but least understood features of humour, such as our tendency to laugh at animals and our bodies, why we mock death with comedy and why we think it's funny when people act like machines. He also looks as the darker side of humour, as rife in sexism and racism and argues that is important for reminding of us of people we would rather not be. By examining what is required to laugh at oneself and the idea of humour as a form of everyday common sense, On Humour also argues that we place the comical at the very centre stage of psychology. From Aristotle, Hobbes, and Freud to Samuel Beckett, Charlie Chaplin and Will Self, On Humour turns the comical inside out to reveal some delectable insights about what we find funny. Above all, Simon Critchley argues that humour can tell us much about the human condition, the meaning of life and why comedy itself begins in philosophy--Publisher's blurb.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

English philosopher Simon Critchley was born on February 27, 1960. He earned his BA (1985) and PhD (1988) from the University of Essex in England. Critchley received his M.Phil. from France's University of Nice in 1987.

Critchley has held university fellow, lecturer, reader, and professor positions and was the Director of the Centre for Theoretical Studies at the University of Essex. Additionally, Critchley was President of the British Society for Phenomenology from 1994-1999, he held a Humboldt Research Fellowship in Philosophy at the University of Frankfurt, and was Programme Director of the Collège International de Philosophie. Since 2004 Critchley has taught philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York.

Critchley's publications include "The Ethics of Deconstruction: Derrida and Levinas," the collection of essays "Ethics-Politics-Subjectivity," "Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction," "On Humour," "Things Merely Are," "Infinitely Demanding," and the New York Times bestseller "The Book of Dead Philosophers".

(Bowker Author Biography)