Jones 1

A Complete Analysis of Plato's Philosophy of Humor

Jonathon D. Jones Plato: Phi 5410 April 15, 2005

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Jones 2 Introduction

In this paper, I will answer four questions. First, what was Plato's theory of humor? Second, how was this view different from ordinary Greek thought on the topic? Third, what was Plato's own experience with humor? Finally, if he thought humor was immoral or undesirable, then why did Plato use it in his own writing? While the first is my primary interest here, the others seem to be very important in understanding Plato's thought. By answering the middle two questions, I put Plato's thought into its historical, societal, and biographical context instead of reading it as existing in a void. By exploring the final question, an apparent inconsistency, I will show that Plato cannot have had an entirely negative view of humor, and indeed that he had a place for it in philosophical discussion and writing. Answering these questions together allows a broader and deeper understanding of Plato's thought than trying to answer the first question by itself would permit. I will answer these questions in order: first, I shall give a preliminary account of Plato's philosophy of humor. Then, I will look at the way ancient Greek culture dealt with humor. Third, I will examine Plato's interaction with comedy, and finally explore why Plato used humor himself. By doing so, I hope to present a more complete account of his thought. Before any of that, however, I'll explain why Plato's philosophy of humor is important. Some people may think that humor and comedy is, for Plato, just another category of poetry, and of little interest by itself. I'm focusing on humor for three reasons. First, Plato seems particularly troubled by comedy - it has features that make it distasteful over and above those of poetry in general. Second, some of Plato's criticisms with poetry as a whole seem to really be