Eventually, philosophers arrived at the superiority theory of humor, according to which every joke is, at its core, a hostile attack designed to affirm the comic’s dominance and assure the subjugation of its target.

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#Plato #Aristotle #comedy #cruelty #ThomasHobbes #laughter #humor #philosophy #jokes #comic #dominance #subjugation

Philosophers, going back to #Plato and #Aristotle, have observed a link between #comedy and #cruelty. In the seventeenth century, #ThomasHobbes pegged #laughter as the companion of scorn. He framed #humor as an act of self-aggrandizement premised on the debasement of others.

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