“Bravo! I’ll say nothing funny about it, for it is asuperior piece of work.”—P. J. O’Rourke“F. H. Buckley’s The Morality of Laughter is at oncea humorous look at serious matters and a seriousbook about humor.”—Crisis Magazine“Buckley has written a . ne and funny book that willbe read with pleasure and instruction.”—First Things“. . . written elegantly and often wittily. . . .”—National Post“. . . a fascinating philosophical exposition oflaughter. . . .”—National Review“. . . at once a wise and highly amusing book.”—Wall Street Journal Online“. . . a useful reminder that a cheery society is ahealthy one.”—Weekly Standard
F. H. Buckley is Associate Dean and Executive Director, Law Economics Center, George Mason University School of Law.
Laughter as superiority -- The elements of laughter -- The one necessary thing -- Objectives to the normative thesis -- Comic, virtues, and vices -- The social virtues -- Machine law -- Machine shcolarship -- Machine art and machine cities -- The battle of the norms -- Resistance to laughter -- The sociability thesis -- Conclusion.
"F. H. Buckley's The Morality of Laughter is at once a humorous look at serious matters and a serious book about humor." —Thomas S. Hibbs, Boston College, Crisis Magazine, May 2003
