The Salacious and the Satirical: In Defense of Symmetric Comic Moralism
Journal of Aesthetic Education (forthcoming)
| Abstract | A common view holds that humor and morality are antithetical: Moral flaws enhance amusement, and moral virtues detract. I reject both of these claims. If we distinguish between merely outrageous jokes and immoral jokes, the problems with the common view become apparent. What we find is that genuine morals flaws tend to inhibit amusement. Further, by looking at satire, we can see that moral virtues sometimes enhance amusement. The position I defend is called symmetric comic moralism. It is widely regarded as patently absurd. I hope to correct this mistake. | |||||||||
| Keywords | art and morality humor moralism | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,653 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesAaron Smuts (2009). Do Moral Flaws Enhance Amusement? American Philosophical Quarterly 46 (2):151-163.
E. M. Dadlez (2011). Truly Funny: Humor, Irony, and Satire as Moral Criticism. Journal of Aesthetic Education 45 (1):1-17.
Aaron Smuts (2011). Grounding Moralism: Moral Flaws and Aesthetic Properties. Journal of Aesthetic Education 45 (4):34-53.
Noël Carroll (1996). Moderate Moralism. British Journal of Aesthetics 36 (3):223-238.
Aaron Smuts (2007). The Joke is the Thing: 'In the Company of Men' and the Ethics of Humor. Film and Philosophy 11 (1):49-66.
Aaron Smuts (2010). The Ethics of Humor: Can Your Sense of Humor Be Wrong? Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 13 (3):333-47.
Robert C. Roberts (1988). Humor and the Virtues. Inquiry 31 (2):127 – 149.
Andrew Jordan & Stephanie Patridge (2012). Against the Moralistic Fallacy: A Modest Defense of a Modest Sentimentalism About Humor. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 15 (1):83-94.
Michelle Mason (2001). Moral Prejudice and Aesthetic Deformity: Rereading Hume's "of the Standard of Taste". Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 59 (1):59-71.
John Lippitt (2000). Humour and Irony in Kierkegaard's Thought. St. Martin's Press.
C. A. J. Coady (2008). Messy Morality: The Challenge of Politics. Oxford University Press.
John Marmysz (2010). Comic Relief: A Comprehensive Philosophy of Humor. [REVIEW] Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 68 (3):305-308.
Berys Nigel Gaut (1998). Just Joking: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Humor. Philosophy and Literature 22 (1):51-68.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-11-18Total downloads33 ( #36,484 of 548,984 )Recent downloads (6 months)5 ( #15,093 of 548,984 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
