Enjoyment Of Laughter

Author : Max Eastman
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2017-09-29
Category : Humor
ISBN : 9781351311700

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Enjoyment of Laughter by Max Eastman Pdf

Humor at its best is a somewhat fluid and transitory element, but most books about it are illustrated with hardened old jokes from the comic papers, or classic witticisms jerked out of their context. Max Eastman, in this work, avoids this catastrophe by quoting mainly from contemporary American humor. This is not an anthology in that selections have been made with a view to making a point rather than covering the field. The purpose of Eastman's fabled work is to make the reader laugh. Since his early school days, it has seemed to him that textbooks are wrongly written in that they are conducted in a way which ignores the natural operation of the mind. As a result, the opinion is universal, and under the circumstances a fact, that in order to learn anything you have to study. Since this introduction to humor is itself near to writing a textbook, Eastman uses the very text he constructs to illustrate the manner in which textbooks should be written. Examination and classification of the kinds of humorous experience upon the basis of a theory is a science. As such, this work offers a fair chance to illustrate a method of instruction. However, the distinction between a good joke and a bad one will not prevent the reader from making bad jokes nor enable one to make good ones. There is an artistic and playful element that simply cannot be taught. Enjoyment of Laughter presents a total view of the science of laughter and draws upon some of the great American humorists to do so.

Author : Paul E. Kirkland,Michael J. McNeal
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2022-06-16
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781350225244

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Joy and Laughter in Nietzsche’s Philosophy by Paul E. Kirkland,Michael J. McNeal Pdf

Analyzing the importance of joy, laughter, and cheerfulness in Nietzsche's thought, this volume addresses an under-examined topic in the secondary literature. By exploring disparate aspects of these interrelated emotions it provides new insights into his key ideas. The contributors-among them philosophers and political scientists-illustrate the significance of these feelings to reveal political ramifications of their affirmative potential and their broader role in Nietzsche's philosophical aims. These include how the joyful disposition Nietzsche commends informs his free spirit's self-overcoming, attempts to revalue all values, and prospects of ultimately transfiguring humanity. Among other topics, scholars assess the Übermensch and shared joy, learning to laugh at oneself, Schopenhauer's jokes, Pascal's cheerfulness, and the Dada movement's subversively playful aesthetic. By contemplating Nietzsche's emphasis on joy and laughter, the volume reveals a thinker who, far from being a caricature of hopeless nihilism, is in fact the hitherto unrecognised champion of an alternative liberatory politics.

Author : Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky,Merv Neal,Jerome Carson
Publisher : Emerald Group Publishing
Page : 187 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2024-05-09
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781837538362

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The Positive Psychology of Laughter and Humour by Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky,Merv Neal,Jerome Carson Pdf

Drawing on the authors’ diverse backgrounds and expertise, this is the first academic volume dedicated to the rarely discussed topic of laughter and humour in positive psychology.

Author : Pragito Dove
Publisher : New World Library
Page : 234 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Self-Help
ISBN : 9781577316831

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Laughter, Tears, Silence by Pragito Dove Pdf

Dove's accessible, innovative methods allow readers to reap the benefits of meditation in any situation. Drawing on traditions and teachers, this work synthesizes the needs of contemporary life with attention to the full range of the human experience.

Author : John Morreall
Publisher : SUNY Press
Page : 158 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 1983-01-01
Category : Humor
ISBN : 0873956427

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Taking Laughter Seriously by John Morreall Pdf

Author : Sharon E. Buck
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 116 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2016-06-14
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0966636317

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Fun, Humor and Laughter by Sharon E. Buck Pdf

Stressed? Do you need a break from computers gone bad, the boss annoying you (how dare he!), kids demanding your attention, anything that is making you pull your hair and wanting to move to Jamaica? Of course you do! Fun, Humor, & Laughter contains seventy-five funny short stories about everyday life. From aging parents to kids to animals to food to exercise, and to life in general, you are sure to find stories that will bring a smile to your face and will even make you laugh out loud. Treat yourself to a little laughter today!

Author : Pierre Destrée,Franco V. Trivigno
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2019-08-06
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780190460556

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Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy by Pierre Destrée,Franco V. Trivigno Pdf

Ancient philosophers considered question about laughter, humor, and comedy to be both philosophically interesting and important. They theorized about laughter and its causes, moralized about the appropriate uses of humor and what it is appropriate to laugh at, and wrote treaties on comedic composition. They were often merciless in ridiculing their opponents' positions, borrowing comedic devices and techniques from comic poetry and drama to do so. This volume is organized around three sets of questions that illuminate the philosophical concerns and corresponding range of answers found in ancient philosophy. The first set investigates the psychology of laughter. What is going on in our minds when we laugh? What background conditions must be in place for laughter to occur? Is laughter necessarily hostile or derisive? The second set of questions concerns the ethical and social norms governing laughter and humor. When is it appropriate or inappropriate to laugh? Does laughter have a positive social function? Is there a virtue, or excellence, connected to laugher and humor? The third set of questions concerns the philosophical uses of humor and comedic technique. Do philosophers use humor exclusively in criticizing rivals, or can it play a positive educational role as well? If it can, how does philosophical humor communicate its philosophical content? This volume does not aim to settle these fascinating questions but more importantly to start a conversation about them, and serve as a reference point for discussions of laughter, humor, and comedy in ancient philosophy.

Author : Harvey Mindess
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 218 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2017-07-05
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781351509640

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Laughter and Liberation by Harvey Mindess Pdf

Laughter and Liberation is based on the idea that humor is an agent of psychological liberation. Since we are able to include every kind of wit and humor under the umbrella of this thesis, it amounts to an informal, comprehensive theory of the ludicrous. Briefly put, the theory proposes that the most fundamental function of humor is its power to release us from the inhibitions and restrictions under which we live our daily lives.The quest for laughter is as old as man himself?Egyptian pharaohs and Roman emperors went to great lengths to amuse themselves, as did the monarchs of medieval Europe with court jesters. Our speech and literature abound with references to humor such as: "Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone," "He who laughs last laughs best," "All the world loves a clown," "Laugh if you are wise," and "A good laugh is sunshine in the house."In Laughter and Liberation, Harvey Mindess tells us how laughter and our sense of humor work. He gives us the background of several well-known humorists?Steve Allen, Richard Armour, Sholom Aleichem?and explains his theory of how and why they have become expert in making others laugh.

Author : Michael Billig
Publisher : SAGE
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2005-07-19
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781446230992

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Laughter and Ridicule by Michael Billig Pdf

`From Thomas Hobbes' fear of the power of laughter to the compulsory, packaged "fun" of the contemporary mass media, Billig takes the reader on a stimulating tour of the strange world of humour. Both a significant work of scholarship and a novel contribution to the understanding of the humourous, this is a seriously engaging book' - David Inglis, University of Aberdeen This delightful book tackles the prevailing assumption that laughter and humour are inherently good. In developing a critique of humour the author proposes a social theory that places humour - in the form of ridicule - as central to social life. Billig argues that all cultures use ridicule as a disciplinary means to uphold norms of conduct and conventions of meaning. Historically, theories of humour reflect wider visions of politics, morality and aesthetics. For example, Bergson argued that humour contains an element of cruelty while Freud suggested that we deceive ourselves about the true nature of our laughter. Billig discusses these and other theories, while using the topic of humour to throw light on the perennial social problems of regulation, control and emancipation.

Author : Stephen Patterson
Publisher : iUniverse
Page : 146 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2009-12
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9781440189227

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Better Living Through Laughter by Stephen Patterson Pdf

The benefits of a good laugh will last long after the physical act has passed. Most likely your favorite memories are the ones that include a good dose of laughter. More and more, the prescription to a healthy attitude can be found in laughter. Laughter is a universal language and can be enjoyed and understood by everyone. Laughter can help both mentally and physically. An ever growing number of people experience high levels of injurious stress fueled by hectic schedules and deadlines. This book is designed to reintroduce the reader to the many benefits of laughter. If you fail to enjoy the benefits of laughter you are cheating yourself out of a wonderful resource for a healthy life. Rediscover how laughter is the best medicine, both mentally and physically.

Author : Maggie Hennefeld
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 634 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2024-03-19
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9780231559812

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Death by Laughter by Maggie Hennefeld Pdf

Can you really die from laughing too hard? Between 1870 and 1920, hundreds of women suffered such a fate—or so a slew of sensationalist obituaries would have us believe. How could laughter be fatal, and what do these reports of women’s risible deaths tell us about the politics of female joy? Maggie Hennefeld reveals the forgotten histories of “hysterical laughter,” exploring how women’s amusement has been theorized and demonized, suppressed and exploited. In nineteenth-century medicine and culture, hysteria was an ailment that afflicted unruly women on the cusp of emotional or nervous breakdown. Cinema, Hennefeld argues, made it possible for women to laugh outrageously as never before, with irreversible social and political consequences. As female enjoyment became a surefire promise of profitability, alarmist tales of women laughing themselves to death epitomized the tension between subversive pleasure and its violent repression. Hennefeld traces the social politics of women’s laughter from the heyday of nineteenth-century sentimentalism to the collective euphoria of early film spectatorship, traversing contagious dancing outbreaks, hysteria photography, madwomen’s cackling, cinematic close-ups, and screenings of slapstick movies in mental asylums. Placing little-known silent films and an archive of remarkable, often unusual texts in conversation with affect theory, comedy studies, and feminist film theory, this book makes a timely case for the power of hysterical laughter to change the world.

Author : Catherine Price
Publisher : Dial Press
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2021-12-21
Category : Self-Help
ISBN : 9780593241417

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The Power of Fun by Catherine Price Pdf

If you’re not having fun, you’re not fully living. The author of How to Break Up with Your Phone makes the case that, far from being frivolous, fun is actually critical to our well-being—and shows us how to have more of it. “This delightful book might just be what we need to start flourishing.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant Journalist and screen/life balance expert Catherine Price argues persuasively that our always-on, tech-addicted lifestyles have led us to obsess over intangible concepts such as happiness while obscuring the fact that real happiness lies in the everyday experience of fun. We often think of fun as indulgent, even immature and selfish. We claim to not have time for it, even as we find hours a day for what Price calls Fake Fun—bingeing on television, doomscrolling the news, or posting photos to social media, all in hopes of filling some of the emptiness we feel inside. In this follow-up to her hit book, How to Break Up with Your Phone, Price makes the case that True Fun—which she defines as the magical confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow—will give us the fulfillment we so desperately seek. If you use True Fun as your compass, you will be happier and healthier. You will be more productive, less resentful, and less stressed. You will have more energy. You will find community and a sense of purpose. You will stop languishing and start flourishing. And best of all? You’ll enjoy the process. Weaving together scientific research with personal experience, Price reveals the surprising mental, physical, and cognitive benefits of fun, and offers a practical, personalized plan for how we can achieve better screen/life balance and attract more True Fun into our daily lives—without feeling overwhelmed. Groundbreaking, eye-opening, and packed with useful advice, The Power of Fun won’t just change the way you think about fun. It will bring you back to life.

Author : James Sully
Publisher : Good Press
Page : 444 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2019-12-16
Category : Fiction
ISBN : EAN:4064066166359

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An Essay on Laughter: Its Forms, Its Causes, Its Development and Its Value by James Sully Pdf

"An Essay on Laughter: Its Forms, Its Causes, Its Development and Its Value" by James Sully is an attempt to treat on a considerable scale the whole subject of Laughter, under its various aspects, and in its connections with our serious activities and interests. While portions of this volume were published in other texts, this is the only one that has the complete work in one concise place.

Author : Terry Lindvall
Publisher : HarperChristian + ORM
Page : 497 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2012-01-16
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781595554796

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Surprised by Laughter by Terry Lindvall Pdf

For C. S. Lewis, merriment was serious business, and like no book before it, Surprised by Laughter explains why. Author Terry Lindvall takes readers on a highly amusing and deeply meaningful journey through the life and letters of one of the most beloved Christian thinkers and writers. As Lindvall shows, the unique magic of Lewis's approach was his belief that explosive and infectious joy dwells deep in the heart of Christian faith. Readers can never fully understand Lewis, his life or his legacy until they learn to laugh with him.

Author : John Morreall
Publisher : SUNY Press
Page : 158 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 1983-06-30
Category : Humor
ISBN : 0873956435

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Taking Laughter Seriously by John Morreall Pdf

Preface Part One: Laughter 1. Can There Be a Theory of Laughter? 2. The Superiority Theory 3. The Incongruity Theory 4. The Relief Theory 5. A New Theory Part Two: Humor 6. The Variety of Humor 7. Humor as Aesthetic Experience 8. Humor and Freedom 9. The Social Value of Humor 10. Humor and Life Notes Works Cited Index