Henri Bergson and the Superiority Theory of Humor

Humor and laughter make up important parts of the human experience. Many people and cultures adopt various customs about humor. But what is humor? Philosophers try to explain the phenomenon of humor. This thesis looks briefly at the history of the superiority theory of humor in particular with emphasis on the writings of Plato, Aristotle, and Thomas Hobbes. Next, I discuss Francis Hutcheson and Camille Atkinson?s, a contemporary writer, criticisms of Hobbes and the superiority theory of humor respectively. Finally, after an interpretation of Bergson?s theory as a superiority theory, Bergson?s writing is used to address the problems of that theory.

Name thesis:degree_name

Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Honors Thesis

Grantor

University of Nevada, Reno

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Hernandez, Carl

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Williams, Christopher T.
• Fileva, Iskra

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright(All Rights Reserved)

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11714/444

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarwolf.unr.edu:11714/444