63rd Philosophers’ Carnival’s a Laugh

Welcome to the 63^rd Philosophers’ Carnival. The subject was Comedy and there are three sections: the first is about theories of comedy and philosophy, and second is a roundup of recently funny things with a philosophical bent. At the end I put submissions of non-comedic philosophical musings.

Part 1: Comedic Theory

Did you hear the one about the philosopher writing a book on humour? via Continental Philosophy

Philosophy Through Humor on ‘Philosophy Talk’ radio program. Listen by clicking the Listen Online link on the page (they will ask for a fee if you try to download the file):

“Why did Nietzsche cross the road? To get beyond good and evil! How is a good joke like a good philosophical argument? Are philosophical tenets at the core of much of humor? To find out, join the philosophers and their guests, Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, authors of Plato and A Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes.”

A post called Not Pure Drivel discusses comedians with comic and philosophical insight at Ideas of Imperfection. Kieran also has this post on philosophical humor. It’s old but good.

My inspiration for this Carnival: The Birth of Comedy out of the Suicide of Tragedy. It’s a theory of comedy from Nietzsche that I found picking through The Birth of Tragedy, with modern examples from Leno and Letterman.

———————

Part 2: Comedic Practice

New Philo-Gangsta Rap on Descartes from Philosophy Sucks! (There’s some mild cussing- nothing a ten year old wouldn’t know, but I figured I ought warn you.)

Harry Frankfurt (of On Bullshit fame) on The Daily Show via Leiter Reports. Make sure you get to part 2 of the clip.

Philosophy teams on fragments of consciousness. Maybe someone can start a running battle à la The Superest.

How to tell if you suck at telling philosophical jokes at A brood comb. Check out this (submitted to carnival but not funny) post while you are there.

Kant Attack Ad on Youtube. Check out the response: Nietzsche Attack Ad.

Something for the philosopher of mathematics to ponder: Mobius Battle on xkcd. I personally wonder about the haecceity of stick figures…

The Unprovability of False Hope. Another cartoon that made me smile at ThadGuy.com

Seize this Honkus! on the Philosophy Blog. You have likely seen it a long time ago, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome.

A Philosophy Job Market Blog‘s motto is, “It’d be funny if it were happening to someone else.” Funny sad, not funny ha-ha, but funny nonetheless about the trials and tribulations finding work in philosophy. I linked the whole blog (not only a single post) to show moral support.

And lastly, classic Bugs, Daffy and Elmer Fudd Loony Toons episodes are now up on Youtube. If Wittgenstein had only lived three more weeks he would have had a good laugh at the duck-rabbit confusion (My thanks to Opiniatrety for connecting Bugs-Daffy to Wittgenstein). Rabbit Fire (19 May 1951), Rabbit Seasoning (1952) and Duck Rabbit Duck (1953). It’s gold for philosophy of language and laughs.

—————————-

——————————–

Part 3: The Rest

Just a few of the other submitted posts… if you aren’t here, resubmit!

Stop changing your mind!: Spinoza and Buffalo.

Gordon Baker and Wittgenstein’s Method

There are just as many F’s as G’s: Included for using the word ‘equinumerosity.’

How to find work in the United Kingdom: Thom Brooks, yay!

Hempelian Deductive and Probablity Laws