Abstract

An overlooked element in dealing with dissensus is humour. Humor has two vital rhetorical functions here: 1) it dilutes or diffuses volatility, and 2) it elucidates and constructs shared conditions of reasonableness. I will suggest that the rhetorical character of humour, as a productive, creative capacity, is an essential feature of its role in helping to generate and substantiate the ‘common sense’ needed for effective communication in general.