Humor and the Good Life in Modern Philosophy: Shaftesbury, Hamann, Kierkegaard Paperback – 2 Jan 2015
by Lydia B. Amir (Author)
By exploring the works of both Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury, and Søren Kierkegaard, Lydia B. Amir finds a rich tapestry of ideas about the comic, the tragic, humor, and related concepts such as irony, ridicule, and wit.
Amir focuses chiefly on these two thinkers, but she also includes Johann Georg Hamann, an influence of Kierkegaard’s who was himself influenced by Shaftesbury. All three thinkers were devout Christians but were intensely critical of the organized Christianity of their milieux, and humor played an important role in their responses. The author examines the epistemological, ethical, and religious roles of humor in their philosophies and proposes a secular philosophy of humor in which humor helps attain the philosophic ideals of self-knowledge, truth, rationality, virtue, and wisdom, as well as the more ambitious goals of liberation, joy, and wisdom.
Product details
Paperback: 404 pages
Publisher: State University of New York Press (2 Jan. 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1438449364
ISBN-13: 978-1438449364
Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 2.6 x 22.9 cm
Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,373,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Review
Readers are rewarded with a well-rounded account of the importance of humor to all philosophical walks of life Highly recommended. “CHOICE””
Lydia Amir s latest book will put in good spirits applied philosophers (both those who instruct as well as those who counsel) by showing them how humor can provide them with a useful and multiform toolbox in their professional lives The applied philosophers reading “Humor and the Good Life in Modern Philosophy” will be ready to remind their students and/or consultants that laughter is food for thought, so humor must be taken very seriously. “International Journal of Applied Philosophy”
readers are rewarded with a well-rounded account of the importance of humor to all philosophical walks of life Highly recommended. “CHOICE”
“[an] interestingly argued, well-written, scholarly work which advances an intriguing thesis. This is a wonderful addition to the literature of the blossoming subfield of philosophy of humor. Philosophical Practice
Lydia Amir s latest book will put in good spirits applied philosophers (both those who instruct as well as those who counsel) by showing them how humor can provide them with a useful and multiform toolbox in their professional lives The applied philosophers reading Humor and the Good Life in Modern Philosophy will be ready to remind their students and/or consultants that laughter is food for thought, so humor must be taken very seriously. International Journal of Applied Philosophy
readers are rewarded with a well-rounded account of the importance of humor to all philosophical walks of life Highly recommended. CHOICE”
..”.[an] interestingly argued, well-written, scholarly work which advances an intriguing thesis. This is a wonderful addition to the literature of the blossoming subfield of philosophy of humor.” — Philosophical Practice
“Lydia Amir’s latest book will put in good spirits applied philosophers (both those who instruct as well as those who counsel) by showing them how humor can provide them with a useful and multiform toolbox in their professional lives …
The applied philosophers reading Humor and the Good Life in Modern Philosophy will be ready to remind their students and/or consultants that laughter is food for thought, so humor must be taken very seriously.” — International Journal of Applied Philosophy
..”.readers are rewarded with a well-rounded account of the importance of humor to all philosophical walks of life … Highly recommended.” — CHOICE
About the Author
Lydia B. Amir is Senior Lecturer of Philosophy in the School of Media Studies at the College of Management Academic Studies in Israel.
Homo sapiens with a smile becomes Homo Risibilis 18 Mar. 2014
By Gilbert Bittman – Published on Amazon.com
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
This is the most serious academic book about humor that you will ever find. It is the definitive expose on the subject, a monumental work that plants its roots on the three important philosophers’ writings and follow them up with the author’s original thesis of a recipe of good life as a practical life lesson.
This is how a philosophy book should be written : learn from the masters and then develop your own thesis as Dr. Amir did in this book. Dr. Amir extensive expertise in practical philosophy is readily discernible in her book.
Gilbert Bittman Ph.D.