Joke Capital vs. Punching Up/Punching Down: Accounting for the Ethical Relation between Joker and Target
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Steven Gimbel
Gettysburg University, USA;
und
Thomas Wilk
Widener University, USA;
Abstract
The currently dominant view concerning humor ethics is punching up/punching down. According to this view, members of one community with less social capital are allowed to make jokes at the expense of another with more social capital as a means of achieving social justice, while those in a community with more social capital are forbidden from making jokes about those with less. The latter is considered an act of bullying, which further entrenches pre-existing social injustice. While there is value in the moral intuitions that underlay this view, it falls prey to several problems. A new approach, the joke capital approach, is introduced which has the virtue of accounting for the cases in which punching up/punching down is effective but also is capable of handling the problematic cases.
About the authors
Gettysburg University, USA;
Widener University, USA;
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© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Titlepages
- Table of Contents
- Articles
- Democritus, The Laughing Philosopher
- The Contemptuous Laughter of Democritus and Nietzsche
- A Joke: On the Plurality of Worlds and Ostrichist
- Joke Capital vs. Punching Up/Punching Down: Accounting for the Ethical Relation between Joker and Target
- Humanistic Ethics of Humor: The Problematics of Punching Up and Kicking Down
- “You Must Be Joking!”: Theory, Religion, and The Domestication of the Ludic
- Humor in Chinese Traditions of Thought, Part One: Systematic Reflections in View of Ancient Confucian and Daoist Applications of Humor
- Discussion: Short Article for Further Debate
- Discussion: Short Article for Further Debate Edited by John Marmysz
- The Shared Presupposition Norm of Joking: A Philosophical Exploration
- “I Finally Got the Joke”
- Do Joke-Telling Norms Apply to Laughtivism?
- “I’m Only Human”: A Self-Referential Sense of Humor and Meaningful Living
- Philosophical Satire and Criticism
- Philosophical Satire and Criticism Edited by Steven Gimbel
- Recaptioning Cartoons from Historical Turkish Humor Magazines as Feminist Media Activism: The Case of Boşboğaz
- Humor in Philosophy Education
- Humor in Philosophy Education Edited by Christine A. James
- How Can Philosophy Improve Your Sense of Humor?
- Symposium
- Symposium Edited by Steven Gimbel Dustin Peone. Making Philosophy Laugh: Humor, Irony, and Folly in Philosophical Thought. Cascade Books, 2023. pp. 158. Critics
- In Search of a Lost Philosophical Humor
- The Moment of Laughter
- On Making Philosophy Laugh
- “Where the enemy is mighty, one must be clever”: Peone, Vico, and Guareschi on Power in Humor
- Author’s Response
- Author’s Response
- Humor Resartus
- 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
- Call for Papers
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Titlepages
- Table of Contents
- Articles
- Democritus, The Laughing Philosopher
- The Contemptuous Laughter of Democritus and Nietzsche
- A Joke: On the Plurality of Worlds and Ostrichist
- Joke Capital vs. Punching Up/Punching Down: Accounting for the Ethical Relation between Joker and Target
- Humanistic Ethics of Humor: The Problematics of Punching Up and Kicking Down
- “You Must Be Joking!”: Theory, Religion, and The Domestication of the Ludic
- Humor in Chinese Traditions of Thought, Part One: Systematic Reflections in View of Ancient Confucian and Daoist Applications of Humor
- Discussion: Short Article for Further Debate
- Discussion: Short Article for Further Debate Edited by John Marmysz
- The Shared Presupposition Norm of Joking: A Philosophical Exploration
- “I Finally Got the Joke”
- Do Joke-Telling Norms Apply to Laughtivism?
- “I’m Only Human”: A Self-Referential Sense of Humor and Meaningful Living
- Philosophical Satire and Criticism
- Philosophical Satire and Criticism Edited by Steven Gimbel
- Recaptioning Cartoons from Historical Turkish Humor Magazines as Feminist Media Activism: The Case of Boşboğaz
- Humor in Philosophy Education
- Humor in Philosophy Education Edited by Christine A. James
- How Can Philosophy Improve Your Sense of Humor?
- Symposium
- Symposium Edited by Steven Gimbel Dustin Peone. Making Philosophy Laugh: Humor, Irony, and Folly in Philosophical Thought. Cascade Books, 2023. pp. 158. Critics
- In Search of a Lost Philosophical Humor
- The Moment of Laughter
- On Making Philosophy Laugh
- “Where the enemy is mighty, one must be clever”: Peone, Vico, and Guareschi on Power in Humor
- Author’s Response
- Author’s Response
- Humor Resartus
- 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
- Call for Papers
