The Phenomenological Function of Humor

In this paper, I seek to explore the increasing popular claim that the performance of philosophy and the performance of humor share similar features.I argue that the explanation lies in the function of humor-a function which can be a catalyst for philosophy.Following Ernst Cassirer's philosophy of symbolic forms and utilizing insights from various philosophical and scientific perspectives on the nature and origins of humor, I argue that the function of humor is to reveal faulty belief or error in judgment.Once such errors are revealed the mind demands resolution, and this is the work of philosophy.But philosophy cannot solve a problem unless it recognizes that there is a problem to solve.That is, the move from ignorance to philosophy requires a mediating step.Humor can act as that step, and, as such, humor can serve as a catalyst for philosophy while being necessarily distinct from it.An emerging theme in contemporary cultural studies is the exploration of connections between humor and philosophy. 1 John Morreall, for example, asserts that "most of [humor's] benefits [self-transcendence, humility, critical and creative thinking, etc.] are benefits of philosophy too" 2 while comedy instructor Greg Dean explains that the reason for a comic to be on stage is "to tell the audience what's wrong," something that many philosophers believe is the first step in reflective awareness of oneself or the world. 3 Recently, when I argued that humor is best understood metaphysically as what Ernst Cassirer would call a "symbolic form," Cassirer scholar Stephen Lofts commented that perhaps humor and philosophy serve similar functions in Cassirer's system. 4 In this paper, I seek to explore why the performance of philosophy and the performance of humor share similar features.I argue that the explanation lies in the function of humor-a function which can be a catalyst for philosophy.Following Cassirer's metaphysical philosophy of symbolic forms and utilizing insights from philosophical, phenomenological, psychological, and bio-evolutionary perspectives on the nature and origins of humor, I claim that the function of humor is to reveal faulty belief or error in judgment.Once such errors are revealed the human mind demands resolution, as anomalies