Laughter [ Communication ]
… of jesting, which noted: As it is always an indication of a vitiated low Taste, either to jest in an insipid Manner oneself, or to approve the low, insipid Jests of others; and on the contrary, always Proof of a refined Taste, never to jest … joy we experience on perceiving ourselves as superior to the object of our laughter – the product of a gratified selfish ego. 10 Hobbes’s account was much debated and disputed by later thinkers – not least Shaftesbury and Hutcheson – but laughter never entirely shook its potential to cause offence. As Hutcheson himself acknowledged, to be laughed at is ‘extremely provoking’ (Hutcheson 31). 9 . Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the …
Humour | Impoliteness | Laughter | Manners | Politeness | Taste | Wit
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