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PHIL 180.001 – Philosophy of Humor

IDEAs in Action: Which curricular requirements does this course satisfy?

Instructor: Thomas Mattessich. This course meets MWF 9:05 – 9:55 a.m. in FH 104.

This is a course on various philosophical issues related to comedy and humor. The course will touch on three inter-related themes:
1) Philosophical theories of humor (what is humor?; what is comedy?; what makes something funny?; what makes something a joke?);
2) Connections between more traditional issues in philosophical aesthetics and the philosophy of humor and comedy; and

3) Moral, ethical, and socio-political questions about humor (what makes some jokes racist/sexist/heterosexist/etc.?; is it ok to laugh at a racist/sexist/heterosexist joke?; is humor an important part of “the good life”?; of forming and maintaining valuable relationships with others?; what are the possible and proper role(s) of political comedy in a society?)

Depending on the interests of the class, we might explore these issues as they relate to some of the following:

  • good old traditional jokes, in the context of standup comedy, tv/movies, and everyday conversation;
  • comedy as an aesthetic genre of narrative media, as distinct from other genres;
  • the wide variety of comedic subgenres: farce, raunch/risqué, parody, romcom, dark humor, cringe, improv, insult, slapstick, prank, surrealism, anti-humor;
  • the weirdness of internet humor (memes and reels by millennials and gen z)