The Wisdom of Laughter for the Ancient Greeks
June 4 | 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
What is humour? What does it do for us and for society? From the way the ancient Greeks thought of laughter to contemporary philosophy, it is a fascinating subject that influences our daily lives.
From Plato to Bergson and, more recently, N. Carroll, philosophers have always emphasised the importance of aggressiveness in humour. Indeed, it is well known that many jokes are based, directly or indirectly, on racism, sexism, or other forms of discrimination. If there is no positive value in these types of aggression, is it possible to regulate the humour that gives rise to them?
Furthermore, we should attempt to explain why we find such jokes amusing, even if we object to their content. Pierre Destrée and Elena Cagnoli Fiecconi will present this problem and its philosophical history. They will then discuss two very different ways in which ancient Greek philosophers proposed regulating it—those of Plato and Aristotle, respectively.
