Portfolio Excercise 1: Summary

The Superiority theory: Hobbes has stated that laughter is a way people respond to feeling they are better than others, which results in laughing at their mistakes.

Kant’s theory explains how laughter is a form of relief of tension when experiencing uncomfortable situations.

Schopenhauer’s theory states that people laugh due to a surprising situation or when an unexpected moment occurs.

Spencer’s theory explains that people laugh due to the way our bodies respond in the moment like our nervous systems do when experiencing a certain uncomfortable situation.

Herbert Spencer’s theory further argues the idea of relief like in Kant’s theory. In his essay, On the philosophy of laughter he states ” always tends to beget muscular motion, and when it rises to a certain intensity, always does beget it.” The nervous system is a form of laughter one cannot control which can result in more stress. When an uncomfortable situation occurs our body or nervous system chooses to laugh as a way to reduce that stress and for the body to be in a more relax state. Others may see laughing at a certain situation offensive since it may be serious at times, yet this is due to the way their nervous systems operate.

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