The Palgrave Handbook of the Philosophy of Humour

The Palgrave Handbook of the Philosophy of Humour gathers the best scholars in this emerging field in order to fill a significant lacuna: to provide an accurate explanation of philosophers? attitudes toward humour as an umbrella term, both historically and thematically. To that purpose, it addresses not only humour, but also laughter, the comic and related terms, such as smiling, wit, jokes, caricature, irony and stand-up comedy.

The historic part of the Handbook presents the main philosophers and the major philosophic schools which have taken humour seriously, clarifying the ways in which it was interpreted through various periods in Western history, engaging with spiritual traditions and diverse cultures in which humour was significant.

The thematic part, further divided into three sections, disambiguates main notions which are associated with humour as an umbrella term, and emphasizes their role in philosophy (Humour and Related Terms); it promotes the understanding of humour by approaching it through various lenses, (Understanding Humour); it addresses main questions in the ethics of humour, such as its capacity to offend and its potential as a virtue, it gives advice on how best to use it, and sheds light on the strong ties between humour and the human predicament, and on how humour may alleviate it (Humour, Ethics, and the Human Condition).