![]() ![]() You might latch onto the incongruity of a racy pejorative being used in the punchline of the joke that doubles both as a word for a kind of food and a word for white people. Allow me to now unfunnily explain why you find this joke funny. After all, I included it in this chapter. Is Picky Eater funny, though? And if it is, to what extent is it funny because it is immoral? In response to the first question, I am fairly confident that Picky Eater is funny. Picky Eater is, therefore, immoral in the sense that it relies on racism and cannibalism – two immoral things – to make sense. Remember that this is a publication for those who are or aspire to be pedantic, philosophical types). eating members of one’s own species – is unacceptable, at least in those cases involving homo sapiens who have not consented to being eaten. Likewise, I hope we all accept that cannibalism – i.e. arbitrarily privileging members of one’s own race – is morally reprehensible. ![]() Hopefully, we all accept that racism – i.e. Q: What is a racist cannibal’s favorite food? If an example of such a joke does not readily come to mind, you’re in luck. Another way of putting this is that immoral jokes are not themselves immoral, but are about immoral things which elicit visceral reactions from us much of the time. All I mean, as most people do when they call a joke immoral, is that the joke contains immoral content. When I refer to an “immoral joke,” I do not mean that the joke itself has done something blameworthy, like murder someone or make out with her best friend’s brother. Racism and Cannibalism and Pedophilia, Oh My! By the end of this chapter, you will be able to justify your belief in what you already knew to be true about the relationship between immorality and funniness. In due course, I anticipate some objections to moderate comic immoralism and put them to rest. Since I am an overachiever, I will provide two examples in which jokes are made more amusing because they are immoral and explain why their amusement is enhanced specifically by their immorality. All that is required to show that moderate comic immoralism is true is a single instance in which a joke is made funnier because it is immoral. Moderate comic immoralism, on its face, is much more plausible, intuitive, and defensible than strong comic immoralism. According to this view, sometimes jokes are made funnier because they are immoral. In this chapter, I defend a version of moderate comic immoralism. The mean-spiritedness, lewdness, or insensitivity of these jokes at least sometimes make them less amusing. Perhaps you have been the butt of such a joke. Clearly, there are some immoral jokes that are made less funny because of how distasteful they are. 48 All it takes to show that strong comic immoralism is wrong is one immoral joke that is either made less amusing – or at least, is not made more amusing – because of its immorality. ![]() In the words of Noël Carroll, “no one on this side of Satan” endorses strong comic immoralism (Carroll, 48). I do not defend this view, not least of all because it is indefensible. This view is called strong comic immoralism. One could argue every joke that contains immoral content is made funnier in virtue of its immorality. In response to these challenges, I will do what any sensible person would and dedicate an entire textbook chapter to the vindication of a claim that is indisputable: Jokes can be funny because they are immoral.īefore I dive into my argument, allow me to make some distinctions as any good philosopher would. Still, philosophers have taken this belief that appears fairly obvious and argued that it is untrue because, well, that is precisely what philosophers do. All it takes is a visit to the comedy club, or a night out with some jokesters. It doesn’t take being a philosopher to understand this. In fact, some jokes are funny precisely because they are morally repugnant. That’s why people with no sense of humor have a heightened sense of self-importance.” 47Ī joke that is morally repugnant can still be funny. “If you lose one sense, your other senses are enhanced. ![]()
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