Since the beginnings of Western philosophy, humour has been one of the fundamental themes for various thinkers. However, the term “humour” was not used in the sense that we use it now.

Previously it was part of the theories that explained the different personalities and models of character and even the fluids of the body. It was not until the 18th century, with the development of modern science, that the term “humor” changed its meaning and began to be associated with the experimentation of the funny, or rather, it began to indicate the quality of being funny or amusing.

Next we will see some theories that have explained humor in philosophy and psychology over time.

Theories on what humor is

Surely when we think of the word “humor”, words such as “laughter”, “comedy”, “clowns”, “theater”, “joke”, “smile”, among other concepts associated with fun, come to mind.

If they asked us what humor is? we could surely define this word as a state of mind ; a quality of joviality and grace; a disposition to do something (e.g. “I’m not in the mood”); or a personality attribute (“he has a sense of humour”).

However, the latter has not always been the case. With the constant development of philosophy and science we have gone through different understandings of humour, ranging from pejorative connotations to healing potentials . Below we will look at 4 of the theories that have explained humour over time.

1. Humor as an obstacle to reason

One of the first to use the term “humor” in the context of fun was Henri Bergson in 1890, in a book whose title was Laughter . However, the studies of humour were not very present in this same period. In fact, from classical philosophy to the beginning of the 20th century, humour had been considered as something negative .

In line with the models of thought that gave predominance to reason over the body and emotions, classical and modern philosophy considered laughter, comedy, wit or jokes as a way of annulling self-control and rationality.

Humor was often considered a quality to be avoided, so that the human being would not be defeated and vitiated by laughter. Even both laughter and humour had been linked to the immoral, the malicious or the malevolent .

2. Humor as a sign of superiority

At the turn of the 20th century, humor and laughter began to be signs of superiority, that is, they were considered ways of reflecting feelings of greatness about other people, or about an earlier state of ourselves. Broadly speaking, it suggested that in order to laugh at something or someone we first have to establish a comparison with that someone . Then, look for elements of humour that are a sign of inferiority of the other person or situation.

It is then that laughter is unleashed to reaffirm such inferiority and therefore, one’s own superiority. An example of this would be cases of verbal harassment or bullying based on a derogatory mood towards the other person. In other words, humor would have psychological components related to self-defense, self-competence, judgment, self-esteem, self-centeredness, among others.

3. The theory of incongruence

In the face of the rise of the theory of superiority, the theory of incongruity emerges. While one said that the cause of laughter was feelings of superiority, the other suggests that it is rather an effect of perceiving something incongruous . For example, something that goes against our values or our mental schemes.

This theory of humour has subsequently generated explanations about “nervous laughter”, which is the laughter that manifests itself in situations that seem unexpected, uncomfortable, absurd or even annoying, but which occur in a context where we cannot clearly express these sensations. Through humour and laughter we show the incongruity or discomfort that the situation generates in us.

Another example of this could be political humor. Again, when faced with the incongruence of the attitudes, ideas or public behaviour of people who occupy positions of political representation, it is common to respond through humour, sarcasm, irony, mockery, caricature . In this way, humour has an important political value: it allows us to express our discontent in a socially valued way that is easily shared and distributed among different people.

4. Theories of Humor as Healing and Wellness

One of the most representative theories of humor, both in philosophy and psychology and even physiology, is the theory of well-being, relief or healing. It roughly suggests that humour (whose clearest physical/muscular effect is laughter), has effects on the nervous system and allows different levels of tension to be discharged. In other words, humour and laughter have the potential to release accumulated nervous energy .

In the face of the theory of superiority, which spoke of elements that are not very functional for coexistence; this theory that humour also has important components in adaptive terms.

Among other things, the latter has been very present in the development of different psychotherapeutic currents. Laughter therapies have even been generated whose uses and applications are very different.

Bibliographic references:

  • Kuiper, N., Grimshaw, M., Leite, C. and Kirsh, G. (2006). Humor is not always the best medicine: specific components of sense of humor and psychological well-being. International Journal of Humor Research, 17(1-2):DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.2004.002.
  • Monrreall, J. (2016). Philosophy of Humor. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved October 3, 2018. Available at https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/humor/#IncThe.