Humour is not the opposite of seriousness, nor is it inherently light-hearted. Above all, humour is seldom utterly and patently innocent. Indeed, humour and cruelty can be said to be bedfellows — rather odd ones, arguably, yet bedfellows nonetheless; even if we might prefer to underplay or ignore this vexing fact (just like we often shut our eyes before all kinds of inconvenient truths, convenient lies, and our own innards: bodily as much as psychic).
Explore related booksThe literary and comedic works presented to the public are comic without being childish. They are written for mature audiences who expect humour to be able to pry and unsettle, spur insight and reflection, clarify as well as complexify, and reject all easy, habit-driven consolations, crazes, and conceits — especially those that we cherish the most. What is more, Punch and Judy can turn out to be surprising, when not amusing, fountains of wisdom.
Explore related booksFolly is not merely a pathological defect of intelligence, but also a recurring feature of human conducts and communities. It is often turned into major institutions and even celebrated, praised as highly ethical, and embraced as an obvious component of the social status quo. All of this makes wit and humour into apt instruments to appraise the state of today's cultures, values, politics, vogues, economies, and views — including one's own.
Explore related booksFragments, parodies, and allegories can do intellectual and affective work that standard discursive prose cannot even commence. Such literary and comedic strategies allow philosophy to dig deep while also moving sideways — by way of yarns, interruptions, ribs, digressions, ironies, solecisms, sheer awkwardness, puns, dreams, caricatures, aphorisms, bestiaries, grotesqueries, long lists, and, above all, a rich, gargantuan cornucopia of jokes of all sorts.
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