Laughter as Natural Piety: John Dewey, Humor, and the Religious
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Jonathan Weidenbaum
Berkeley College, New York, USA;
Abstract
One topic frequently explored in the philosophy of humor is the relationship of comedy and laughter with other facets of human existence—including theological insight and religious experience. The aim of this essay is to employ the mature thought of John Dewey not only to illuminate the nature of humor, but also to discern the deep source and connection between the spiritually exalting and the funny from a naturalistic perspective. While a number of passages on comedy and humor from Dewey’s later work are addressed, mostly from Art as Experience, they are synthesized with other ideas from this same text along with a few quotes from John Morreall. The focus is then shifted toward the central themes of A Common Faith, Dewey’s proposal for a de-supernaturalized form of the religious life. It is suggested that the humorous and the religious, understood through Dewey’s refined account of experience, disclose a few very important things about our place within the cosmos as a whole—that greatest of contexts in and through which laughter and the spiritual alike acquire their significance. This Deweyan vision is further clarified by way of comparison with Peter Berger’s theological reflections on humor. The controversies over sin and the place of tragedy in Dewey’s religious naturalism are briefly discussed in the conclusion.
About the author
Berkeley College, New York, USA;
References
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© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titlepages
- Titlepages
- Table of Contents
- Articles
- Vico’s Theory of Humor and Laughter
- Laughter as Natural Piety: John Dewey, Humor, and the Religious
- Understanding Humor: Four Conceptual Approaches to the Elusive Subject
- Reality Is a Joke
- What Makes a Joke Bad: Enthymemes and the Pragmatics of Humor
- It’s Okay to Laugh at Fat Bastard: Ridicule, Satire, and Immoralism
- Oppression, Subversive Humor, and Unstable Politics
- What's the Deal with Sophists? Critical Thought and Humor in Ancient Philosophy and Contemporary Comedy
- Discussion: Article for Further Debate
- Discussion: Article for Further Debate Edited by John Marmysz
- What’s So Funny About Golf?
- Artificial Intelligence, Phenomenology, and The Molyneux Problem
- A Kernel of Truth: Outlining an Epistemology of Jokes
- Philosophical Satire and Criticism
- Philosophical Satire and Criticism Edited by Steven Gimbel
- How to Read Wittgenstein as x: An Exercise in Selective Interpretation
- Humor in Philosophy Education
- Humor in Philosophy Education Edited by Christine A. James
- Quantifying Laughter in International Research
- Symposium
- Symposium Edited by Steven Gimbel Robert R. Clewis, Foreword by Noël Carroll, Kant’s Humorous Writings: An Illustrated Guide. Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. Pp. xxiv + 256 Critics
- Prosecuting the Case against Clewis
- All in Good Taste
- Is Kant Seriously Funny?
- Clewis on Kant’s Humor
- Author’s Response
- Author's Response
- Humor and the Arts: Taking Kant Seriously
- Book Reviews
- Book Reviews Edited by Lydia Amir With Pierre Destrée (Ancient and Medieval Philosophy) and John Marmysz (Modern and Contemporary Philosophy)
- Call for Papers, Book Reviews, Guidelines
- Call for Papers, Book Reviews, Guidelines
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titlepages
- Titlepages
- Table of Contents
- Articles
- Vico’s Theory of Humor and Laughter
- Laughter as Natural Piety: John Dewey, Humor, and the Religious
- Understanding Humor: Four Conceptual Approaches to the Elusive Subject
- Reality Is a Joke
- What Makes a Joke Bad: Enthymemes and the Pragmatics of Humor
- It’s Okay to Laugh at Fat Bastard: Ridicule, Satire, and Immoralism
- Oppression, Subversive Humor, and Unstable Politics
- What's the Deal with Sophists? Critical Thought and Humor in Ancient Philosophy and Contemporary Comedy
- Discussion: Article for Further Debate
- Discussion: Article for Further Debate Edited by John Marmysz
- What’s So Funny About Golf?
- Artificial Intelligence, Phenomenology, and The Molyneux Problem
- A Kernel of Truth: Outlining an Epistemology of Jokes
- Philosophical Satire and Criticism
- Philosophical Satire and Criticism Edited by Steven Gimbel
- How to Read Wittgenstein as x: An Exercise in Selective Interpretation
- Humor in Philosophy Education
- Humor in Philosophy Education Edited by Christine A. James
- Quantifying Laughter in International Research
- Symposium
- Symposium Edited by Steven Gimbel Robert R. Clewis, Foreword by Noël Carroll, Kant’s Humorous Writings: An Illustrated Guide. Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. Pp. xxiv + 256 Critics
- Prosecuting the Case against Clewis
- All in Good Taste
- Is Kant Seriously Funny?
- Clewis on Kant’s Humor
- Author’s Response
- Author's Response
- Humor and the Arts: Taking Kant Seriously
- Book Reviews
- Book Reviews Edited by Lydia Amir With Pierre Destrée (Ancient and Medieval Philosophy) and John Marmysz (Modern and Contemporary Philosophy)
- Call for Papers, Book Reviews, Guidelines
- Call for Papers, Book Reviews, Guidelines
