In the next few posts, I will be changing the subject of this blog to talk about something else in the realm of mirth that has made me think and furrow my needing-to-be-waxed brow: what is God finding funny? Does God laugh?
Inspired by the wonderful scenes from The Name of the Rose, in which the ever-so-holy Sean Connery speaks about the saint’s humor and Aristotle’s lost work on humor, this has begged the question about the possibility of the holy laughing. If Aristotle wrote a treatise on humor, would there be something inherently shameful in that fact, as the abbot proclaims. And if THE philosopher cannot be an advocate of mirth, wouldn’t it be the case that the one-in-three being higher than Aristotle, God, could not be an advocate of a chuckle as well? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUUB96c6EpY
In this post, I will argue that God cannot be laughing or finding anything funny under the most ancient of the theories of humor (that yes, some people are still arguing for today): the superiority theory of humor. This theory states, in a nutshell, that humor arises from a sense of malice and/or abuse towards something or someone deficient in some virtue relative to what that person or thing is. The humorous sentiment we experience comes from that realization of our sense of being superior to the “buffoon”. Consider the laughter we experience when a practical joke is being played on someone, such as this case here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rf7CyvC2lM&t=310s . Philosophers like Hobbes would say what gives us the pleasure is being in the know, being in the superior position as the one who knows the joke.
Look at many of the characters we do laugh AT (yes, laughing AT signifies the thinking going on in the superiority theory of humor). Lloyd and Harry in Dumb and Dumber, Tommy in Tommy Boy, all the way back to the men plagued with serious erections in Aristophanes’ Lysistrada. We laugh because Lloyd and Harry do not know the obvious: that Samsonite is the name of a luggage company, not Mary’s last name. We feel superior to Tommy when we thinks the answer to his exam question is Herbie Hancock (not John Hancock). We feel more in control of our desires and bodily lusts than then men (and then the women who just can’t wait for sex too). These are all cases that point to the validity of the superiority theory.
I won’t be arguing for or against this theory now, but instead imagine this is the correct theory. If the construct of humor is ultimately explained by superiority, I want to ask the question: could God laugh?
Now we will be using the typical idea of God espouses through Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition. Today, in relation to the superiority theory, we will focus on the property of omnibenevolence. God is all-good, and in this sense all-forgiving, all-moral, all-loving, all-merciful, etc (screw the Euthyphro dilemma here, everyone). Now let us just assume for argument’s sake that not only is the superiority theory true, but that there is an O3 God, meaning that this God is omniscient, omnipotent, and most importantly for this section, omnibenevolent. Can we imagine some being that is all-forgiving, all-kind, and all-good in every possible way, finding humor from feeling a sense of malice above something inferior?
Let us consider the traditional trope of the moron joke, a staple in the superiority theory justification box. Since I am from Texas, I will use an Aggie joke here.
Q: Why did the Aggies cover his ears?
A: He was trying to hold in a thought.
We chuckle because clearly we all know (as the Aggie should) that thoughts are *philosophical trigger warning* immaterial and cannot therefore slip out of your ears. But the imagined Aggie is too stupid. Instead of pitying the Aggie for their lack of intelligence, we mock them through malicious laughter. We are superior and we laugh from our pedestal.
God is on the highest pedestal of all though. If anyone knows for sure that thoughts do not slip out of our ears, it would be God. God knows this for sure. But can God maliciously laugh at the Aggie, who is in such a state of ignorance? I would argue no, God cannot laugh with his teeth barred like the non-Aggie Texans do at this joke. God is all-kind, all-understanding, all-merciful, all-good. God, having the property of omnibevolence, cannot be laughing at the misfortune of others, or the sorry state of their intelligence. God could only respond to the misfortune of others with all-pity and all-mercifulness. While we laugh, God pities. While we play the practical joke, God feels sorry for the poor buffoon on which the joke is played. God isn’t laughing. His all-good nature restrict him from laughing if the superiority theory of humor is true.God’s goodness, far beyond the human goodness, stops the mirth from taking hold in God’s being. God cannot find humor in the wicked, the stupid, the buffoonery, of mankind.
God isn’t laughing. God can’t, or God won’t.
Next time: can God laugh under the incongruity theory? image: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/66/ac/67/66ac67b685244350d4ffc00c3764b7a2.jpg
Why I Laugh 