Huumori kukoistaa sodan alla Ukrainassa
Ukrainalaiset kokoontuvat sodan keskellä nauramaan stand up -klubeille. Huumori muistuttaa tarpeettoman kuoleman ja tuhon mielettömyydestä, mutta samalla myös toivosta. nonPeerReviewed
06. Laughing at Oneself: On the New Social Character
This paper examines certain practices of humour, especially self-ridicule, as a kind of social pathology, drawing on the work of Erich Fromm. The paper starts with the observation that laughing at oneself is typically considered to be a positive trait. In general, self-ridicule reveals that the joker does not consider him- or herself to occupy a high ground, to be above ridicule. This kind of affirmative attitude towards laughing at oneself is also present in many philosophers’ thinking. Morally, it is stated, it is better to laugh at oneself than at others. The paper challenges some of these general ideas. Not every kind of self-ridiculing is positive. Laughing at oneself can eventually be…
Epämukavaa - sepä mukavaa : yhteiskuntafilosofinen tutkielma komiikan, naurun ja väkivallan suhteesta
Tämä tutkielma käsittelee komiikan, naurun ja väkivallan suhdetta. Painotus on ensisijassa komiikan ja naurun mahdollisessa väkivaltaisuudessa, minkä vuoksi kahteen ensimmäiseen käsitteeseen paneudutaan enemmän kuin kolmanteen. Väkivalta otetaan tutkielmassa pitkälti annettuna käsitteenä ja se tulkitaan erittäin laajassa mielessä. Työn alussa keskitytään avaamaan komiikan käsitettä kolmea erilaista komiikkateoriaa tutkimalla. Ylemmyys-, huojennus-, ja yhteensopimattomuusteoria nähdään tässä tutkielmassa toisiaan tukevina sen sijaan, että niitä pidettäisiin kilpailevina ja toisensa poissulkevina esityksinä. Lukutapa on eklektinen. Komiikan käsitteen tutkimisen jälkeen siirrytään käsittelemää…
Kun havainto ja odotus eivät kohtaa : huumorista ja hämmennyksestä
Haastan tässä tekstissä yleisesti jaetun huumoriteoreettisen käsityksen, jonka mukaan huumorin ytimessä oleva havainnon ja odotuksen välinen epäsuhta täytyy ratkaista huvitusta aiheuttavalla tavalla. Frankfurtin koulukunnan kriittiseen teoriaan, ja erityisesti Erich Frommin ja Theodor W. Adornon ajatteluun, perustuen esitän, että humoristinen ristiriita voi jäädä myös elämään ratkaisemattomana eikä sen välttämättä tarvitse aiheuttaa riemua. Tällä kriittisellä täydennyksellä on merkittäviä implikaatioita muun muassa huumorin seurausten ymmärtämisen suhteen. nonPeerReviewed
Humor and Disobedience : Understanding Controversial Humor
In this article, I analyze controversial humor and argue that the concept of disobedience is of central importance when evaluating, for instance, harsh or potentially hurtful jokes. Following social critic Erich Fromm (1900– 1980) I claim that disobedience is a dialectic concept: that is, it includes the possibilities both to affirm and to reject. This observation connects humor to other values, and pivotal is how humor is related to the question of what it means to be a human being. Through this insight, I argue that controversial humor may shock and be offensive, or it can be amusing and even have a cathartic effect. In the end, in evaluating humor it is necessary to analyze the values be…
Huumorin dynaaminen käsite : Erich Fromm ja humaanin huumorin mahdollisuus
Lectio praecursoria Jyväskylän yliopiston Vanhassa juhlasalissa 13.5.2016.
Schlock horror and pillow punches
As an introduction to this special themed journal issue on violent clowns, this paper provides an overview of the 14 contributions that examine the comic appeal of violence in culture. It also ties...
Carl Jung and the Role of Shadow and Trickster in Political Humor : Social Philosophical Analysis
The Necrophilic Laughter : Humor as a Social Pathology
In this article, I claim that humor can be a form of social pathology. In opposition to the general humor-affirmative atmosphere, I develop the critical tradition of humor research, and suggest that there is a darker side to fun and laughter. Using insights from Henri Bergson’s theory about laughter and Erich Fromm’s critical social thinking, I formulate a novel theoretical combination which opens up fruitful perspectives on contemporary humor and its social nature. This empirically motivated conceptual position helps us to understand the role and function of humor and laughter. My conclusion is that parts of the contemporary humor catalogue reflect collective destructive and even death-ori…
Naurun ja vallan kiemurainen suhde
Elävät kuolleet : Aristoteles, Hobbes ja Fromm modernin zombikuvaston valossa
Zombeja käsittelevät televisiosarjat ja sarjakuvat ovat viime vuosina saavuttaneet suurta suosiota. Esimerkiksi The Walking Dead -sarjan ensimmäinen jakso näytettiin samanaikaisesti 120 maassa, ja sarjaa on sittemmin katsonut tuotantokaudesta riippuen 5–15 miljoonaa katsojaa. Post-apokalyptinen maailma kiehtoo suurta yleisöä, koska dystooppiset tarinat peilaavat erilaisia käsityksiä ihmisten perusolemuksesta ja yhteiskunnan perustasta; sarjaa voi pitää filosofisena ajatuskokeena, jolla testataan, miten erilaiset näkemykset toimisivat luonnontilaan paluun jälkeen. Artikkelimme lähtökohta on, että zombikuvasto tarjoaa hedelmällisen tilaisuuden filosofiselle analyysille. Tarkastelemme yhteisku…
Smash and Laugh: A philosophical analysis on the relationship between humour and violence
This article focuses on the relationship between humour and violence from a philosophical perspective. It is necessary to analyze different forms of violence and humour to understand in which ways ...
Peter E. Gordon: Adorno and Existence
The dynamic concept of humor : Erich Fromm and the possibility of humane humor
This dissertation focuses on the social philosophy of humor from the viewpoint of Erich Fromm’s critical humanistic thinking. The work consists of an introduction and four individual articles. The introduction discusses Fromm’s theories in relation to the phenomenon of humor to provide a basis for the articles. The central aim is to understand the dynamic nature of humor and how it is related to the problem of being a paradoxical creature, that is, a human being. It is claimed that humor has to be analyzed and interpreted in a unique historical and cultural situation. The first article discusses Fromm’s concept of social character to offer a theoretical tool to understand how deeply humor i…
Socially Critical Humor : Discussing Humor with Erich Fromm and Theodor W. Adorno
This article brings Erich Fromm and Theodor W. Adorno back into dialogue by discussing the cultural phenomena of humor and laughter based on their theoretical writings. I argue that what is typically considered socially critical humor, like offensive jokes or harsh satire, often fails to meet the preconditions of criticism in the light of Adorno’s and Fromm’s thinking. Humor, to be socially critical, has to be life-affirmative and non-positional, and it has to challenge the limits of humor. It is also claimed that in this scope, humor cannot be instrumental.
Laughing with machines : philosophical analysis on the preconditions of sense of humour for machines
This article will analyse the preconditions of sense of humour for artificial intelligence. Can artificial intelligence have a sense of humour? Is there a difference between human and machine laughter? Some machines already fulfil certain conditions which are associated with the human sense of humour: on the most superficial level machines appear to laugh and produce jokes, and they recognize sarcasm and punchlines, and they can evaluate funniness. In short, artificial intelligence is already able to recognize humour, and reacts to it accordingly. Furthermore, people laugh with humorous machines. However, it is still uncertain whether artificial intelligence can have a sense of humour or no…
Erich Fromm's Hopeful Humanism
The Significance of Humour and Laughter for Utopian Thought
Populistit Narkissoksen jäljillä
Erich Frommin määrittelemä ryhmänarsismi tarjoaa kiinnostavan tulkinnan nykypolitiikan merkityksistä ja kehityksestä. nonPeerReviewed
Laughing at Oneself : on the New Social Character
Insults, humour and freedom of speech
In this article we argue that freedom of speech should be understood as a social freedom. In the public discussion after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, it has often been understood as an absolute right to say anything – to offend, to make a fool of others and of oneself, and to express any opinion regardless of the consequences. We challenge this view and propose that advocating freedom of speech without understanding its social foundations is misleading and counterproductive. Based on the critical social theories of Erich Fromm, Charles Taylor and Axel Honneth, we show that there is an alternative tradition in which freedom is fundamentally rooted in social relations and therefore requires re…