Fighting the stigmas of demeaning jokes. A view from Pirandello’s humourism

Abstract

Recent Anglo-American philosophical aesthetics analyses humour in terms of three major accounts: the incongruity theory, the superiority theory and the relief from tension theory, whose formerly supposed rivalry have recently been questioned in favour of their complementarity. Focusing mainly on the incongruity and superiority theory, and by following Pirandello’s humourism, my aim is to defend the possibility, compromised by the implications of these accounts, of humour having actual cognitive and practical impact, challenging prejudices and social norms, often dangerous stereotypes that humiliate and stigmatize weak and vulnerable people.