The Fundamentals of Funny:

Prolegomena to Any Future

Theory of Humor

by

Jonah Samuel Bossewitch

submitted to the

Department of Philosophy

in partial fulfilment of the requirements fo the degree of

Bacherlor of Arts

April 28, 1997

"In the first book we dealt with tragedy and saw how, by arousing pity and fear, it produces catharsis, the purification of those feelings. As we promised, we will now deal with comedy (as well as with satire and mime) and see how, in inspiring the pleasure of the ridiculous, it arrives at the purification of that passion. That such passion is most worthy of consideration we have already said in the book on the soul, inasmuch as—alone among the animals—man is capable of laughter."

Fragment of Uberto Eco's reconstruction of Aristotle's lost Poetics,

The Name of the Rose

Contents

Abstract

1. Introduction

Part I

2. What are You Laughing At?

3. Humorous History

4.We're Off to See the Wizard

5. What's in a Definition?

6. A Positive Alternative

7. Meet the Family

Part II

8. But Why is That Funny?

9. Emotionally Attached

10. When Science Fiction Meets Comedy

Acknowledgements

A resounding THANK YOU to all of the people who have given me support throughout my career at Princeton—I truly could never have succeeded without your love. In particular I must credit my advisers Gilbert Harman and Philip Johnson-Laird, for their patience and caring, well beyond the call of duty. My family is also high on the list of 'Acknowledgments', my Father for teaching me to remember my roots, my Mother for everything, and Tammy and Avi for just being themselves. A big shout-out to Terrace Club for making my time at Princeton bearable, and of course to Ramaz and all of my high school friends and teachers, without whom I would not have been here in the first place. Back on the home front, a special thanks to Seth Grossman, Alex Sherman, Ellen Boccuzzi, Brian Childs, Alivia Price, Mike McCabe, and others too numerous to mention, for all the emotional, editorial, and chemical support. Last but not least, Ali and Eli McCloud deserve special recognition for the erratic hours they were forced to observe, keeping me company 'till the break of dawn.

The figure appearing in this document was created using 'dot' (with lots of help
from Mike '95).

Peace,

Jonah Bossewitch

April 28, 1997

I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis.

Jonah Bossewitch

I authorize Princeton University to lend this thesis to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research.

Jonah Bossewitch

I further authorized Princeton University to reproduce this thesis by photo copying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research.

Jonah Bossewitch