| Description |
1 online resource (xxi, 204 pages) |
| Contents |
Why this book about jokes contains so few jokes -- Slurs and expletives in court transcripts -- Professional comedy -- The terms 'speaker' and 'hearer' -- Singular 'they' -- A note for philosophers and linguists -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Why joking matters -- Introduction -- Jokes are funny peculiar -- How philosophy can help -- Jokes versus joking remarks -- The ethics of joking and cultural limitations -- Jokes that cross the line -- Derogatory jokes and implication |
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Derogatory jocular remarks and intent -- Humor and harm -- Guilty listeners -- Conclusion -- 2. The popular wisdom about jokes -- Introduction -- Jokes and harm in popular wisdom -- Harm versus offense -- Audiences in popular wisdom -- Jokers in popular wisdom -- Is the popular wisdom consistent? -- Conclusion -- 3. Is the popular wisdom supported by science? -- Introduction -- How can jokes be assessed in moral terms? -- Are belittling jokes harmless fun? -- Assessing Wrong Audience and Wrong Joker -- Conclusion -- 4. Crossing a line -- Introduction |
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How derogatory jokes and joking remarks differ -- Derogating, disparaging, and belittling -- Moral concern about (merely) disparaging humor -- Jokes that do not derogate -- Conclusion -- 5. How do jokes communicate ideas? -- Introduction -- What are generalized implicatures? -- Reinforcement and cancelation -- Using implicature to mislead and insinuate -- Explaining Wrong Audience -- Explaining Wrong Joker -- Troubleshooting: 'Missing' implicatures -- Troubleshooting: Unconvincing cancelations -- Conclusion -- 6. Humor and hostility -- Introduction -- Dual-process theories of cognition |
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How a good mood affects cognitive processing -- Troubleshooting: Why is neutral humor harmless? -- How might humor influence cognitive processing? -- How amusement affects the common ground -- Dual cognitive processes and the Wrong Audience -- Conclusion -- 7. Joking remarks and joking intentions -- Introduction -- Two definitions of 'joking' -- Jocular remarks and the warranty of truth -- Does truth-in-jest have a warranty of truth? -- Channeling the common ground -- The common ground and the ambiguity of humor -- Conclusion -- 8. Listener culpability -- Introduction -- What is listening? |
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Being part of a conversation -- Being part of a conversation and the common ground -- There is no hidden common ground -- Public humiliation -- Good listeners and ethical listeners -- Bystanders -- Conclusion -- 9. Finding derogatory jokes amusing -- Introduction -- What kind of person is amused by derogatory jokes? -- Am I morally responsible for being amused? -- Awareness of derogatory ideas in a conversation -- What is acceptance? -- Acceptance and presupposition -- Willingness to accept -- Why amusement is correlated with social identity -- Why amusement is correlated with derogatory belief |
| Summary |
"In this book, Claire Horisk argues that the real problem with so-called offensive jokes-such as racist, sexist, and ethnic jokes-is not that they are offensive but that they are harmful, because they transmit and reinforce stereotypes and ideas that contribute to a network of unjust disadvantage for the derogated group. She distinguishes between belittling jokes, which shore up unjust disadvantage for social groups, and disparaging jokes, which derogate powerful groups such as doctors but do not contribute to unjust disadvantage. She uses philosophy of language and linguistics to argue that both belittling and disparaging jokes communicate ideas by generalized conversational implicature, and to argue that defenses of derogatory remarks as 'just a joke' are inadequate, because jokes can be used to convey what people believe to be true. She focuses on jokes in ordinary conversation, showing that canonical accounts of cooperative conversation need to be enriched: Some people have greater power to shift the common ground of a conversation, and to introduce new presuppositions, than others, and there are alliances that exclude some parties to the conversation, and yet are powerful in setting the future course of the conversation. She also gives a new account of the morality of listening, arguing that sometimes people who listen to derogatory speech may be culpable for doing so. Throughout, she draws on a wealth of interdisciplinary evidence to support the book's claims and to explain why humor is an especially effective means of unjust discrimination"-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on February 29, 2024) |
| Subject |
Wit and humor -- Philosophy
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Racism.
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Sexism.
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Stereotypes (Social psychology)
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| LC no. |
2023040841 |
| ISBN |
9780197691502 |
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0197691501 |
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9780197691526 |
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0197691528 |
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9780197691519 |
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019769151X |
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