http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
1 online resource (xii, 187 pages) : illustrations
Foreword / Robert Mankoff -- No laughing matter : the traditional rejection of humor and traditional theories of humor -- Humor, anarchy, and aggression -- The superiority theory : humor as anti-social -- The incongruity theory : humor as irrational -- The relief theory : humor as a pressure valve -- The minority opinion of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas : humor as playful relaxation -- The relaxation theory of Robert Latta -- Fight or flight, or laughter : the psychology of humor -- Humor and disengagement -- Humor as play -- Laughter as a play signal -- From Lucy to "I love Lucy" : the evolution of humor -- What was first funny? -- The basic pattern in humor : the playful enjoyment of a cognitive shift is expressed in laughter -- The worth of mirth -- That Mona Lisa smile : the aesthetics of humor -- Humor as aesthetic experience -- Humor and other ways of enjoying cognitive shifts : the funny, tragic, grotesque, macabre, horrible, bizarre, and fantastic -- Tragedy vs. comedy : is heavy better than light? -- Enough with the jokes : spontaneous vs. prepared humor -- Laughing at the wrong time : the negative ethics of humor -- Eight traditional moral objections -- The shortcomings in the contemporary ethics of humor -- A more comprehensive approach : the ethics of disengagement -- First harmful effect : irresponsibility -- Second harmful effect : blocking compassion -- Third harmful effect : promoting prejudice -- Having a good laugh : the positive ethics of humor -- Intellectual virtues fostered by humor -- Moral virtues fostered by humor -- Humor during the Holocaust -- Homo sapiens and homo ridens : philosophy and comedy -- Was Socrates the first stand-up comedian? -- Humor and the existentialists -- The laughing Buddha -- The glass is half-empty and half-full : comic wisdom.
John Morreall ; foreword by Robert Mankoff.
Includes bibliographical references and index.