Henri Bergson and the Superiority Theory of Humor

Abstract

Humor and laughter make up important parts of the human experience. Many people and cultures adopt various customs about humor. But what is humor? Philosophers try to explain the phenomenon of humor. This thesis looks briefly at the history of the superiority theory of humor in particular with emphasis on the writings of Plato, Aristotle, and Thomas Hobbes. Next, I discuss Francis Hutcheson and Camille Atkinson?s, a contemporary writer, criticisms of Hobbes and the superiority theory of humor respectively. Finally, after an interpretation of Bergson?s theory as a superiority theory, Bergson?s writing is used to address the problems of that theory.