Unit four
‘My mother-in-law …’
The superiority theory
The philosopher Thomas Hobbes (author of Leviathan, 1651) characterised laughter as a ‘sudden glory’ at a triumph of our own or at an indignity suffered by someone else. This could explain why people laugh at the many variations of the slipping-on-a-banana-skin scenario; there's an urge to laugh at the (literal) downfall of another. Hobbes claimed that those who laugh are momentarily released from awareness of their own lack of ability This accords with a commonsense perception of much humour being a form of mockery – a way of attacking others, so maintaining power and status by gaining support from others who join in the laughter. People most likely to laugh, according to Hobbes, are ...
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