Humor and the Good Life in Modern Philosophy: Shaftesbury, Hamann, Kierkegaard PDF
Preview Humor and the Good Life in Modern Philosophy: Shaftesbury, Hamann, Kierkegaard
Humor and tHe Good Life in modern PHiLosoPHy Humor and tHe Good Life in modern PHiLosoPHy shaftesbury, Hamann, Kierkegaard Lydia B. Amir Cover: Jan Steen. The dancing lesson. 1660–1679. oil on panel. 68.5 × 59 cm (27 × 23.2 in). Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2014 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production by Eileen Nizer Marketing by Fran Keneston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Amir, Lydia. Humor and the good life in modern philosophy : Shaftesbury, Hamann, Kierkegaard / Lydia Amir. pages cm Includes bibliographical references (pages ) and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-4937-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Life. 2. Wit and humor. 3. Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of, 1671– 1713. 4. Hamann, Johann Georg, 1730–1788. 5. Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813–1855. I. Title. BD435.A58 2014 128—dc23 2013003304 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents List of Abbreviations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Shaftesbury: Ridicule as the Test of Truth 11 The Good Life 18 The Comic 29 Ridicule 40 Humor and Wit 53 Concluding Remarks: Humor, Good Humor, Ridicule, and the Shaftesburean Good Life 69 Intermezzo Hamann: Humor and Irony as Categories of Understanding 89 The Good Life 91 Humor and Irony 94 Chapter 2 Kierkegaard: Humor as Philosophy at its Best 101 The Good Life 109 The Comic 127 Irony 151 Humor 162 Concluding Remarks: The Comic, Humor, and the Kierkegaardian Good Life 181 vi Contents Chapter 3 Humor and the Good Life 209 The Comic and the Tragic 220 Humor 242 Ridicule 261 The Good Life 275 Notes 287 Bibliography 333 References 337 Index 373 List of abbreviations The following abbreviations are used in the text, followed by page numbers indicated by Arabic numerals. Roman capital letters indicate parts, books or volumes, and Roman lower-case letters indicate chapters. WorKs by antHony asHLey CooPer sHaftesbury CR: Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, etc., ed. John M. Robertson, in two volumes, 1963 CR3: Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, etc., 6th edition, corrected, in three volumes, 1737 Inquiry: Inquiry Concerning Virtue or Merit Letter: Letter Concerning Enthusiasm Life: The Life, Unpublished Letters, and Philosophical Regimen of Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury Misc.: Miscellaneous Reflections on the Preceding Treatises, and other Critical Subjects Moralists: The Moralists, a Philosophical Rhapsody P.R.O.: The Shaftesbury Papers in the Public Record Office in at Kew, Surrey. Essay: Sensus Communis, an Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour Soliloquy: Soliloquy, or Advice to an Author vii viii List of abbreviations WorKs by søren KierKeGaard AC: Attack upon “Christendom” CA: The Concept of Anxiety CD: Christian Discourses CI: The Concept of Irony with Constant Reference to Socrates COR: The Corsair Affair CUP: Concluding Unscientific Postscript, edit. and trans. by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. CUPL: Concluding Unscientific Postscript, trans. by David F. Swenson and Walter Lowrie. ED: Edifying Discourses EO: Either/Or FSE: For Self-Examination. Judge For Yourself! FT: Fear and Trembling JC: Johannes Climacus, or De omnibus dubitandum est JP: Journals and Papers PA: The Present Age Pap.: Papirer PC: Practice in Christianity PF: Philosophical Fragments PV: The Point of View for My Work as an Author R: Repetition SLW: Stages on Life’s Way SUD: The Sickness unto Death SV: Samlede Værker TC: Training in Christianity WL: Works of Love aCKnoWLedGments I am deeply indebted to Erin Kelly, Lionel McPherson, and Yehuda Shavit—wonderful philosophers and dear friends—for their practical help, commendable patience, and unflinching support. The initial research for the book was facilitated by the help of Sarah Blatcher Cohen and Gary Cohen, who promised to change my life, and did. I am indebted to Simon Critchley for alerting me to the importance of Shaftesbury and to the Kierkegaard Research Center in Copenhagen for hosting me. I express my heartfelt gratitude to Larry Ventis and Larry Mintz, who hosted me as a visiting scholar respectively at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, and at the University of Mary- land, Maryland. In Williamsburg, I enjoyed the college’s updated library on humor as well as the support and interest of John Morreall, who, at the time, had written all the major books on philosophy and humor. I am deeply grateful to him. I am truly obliged to the philosophers who commented on previous drafts of the monograph: Erin Kelly, Yehuda Shavit, Noa Shein, Alicia Tessler, Yair Shlein, and Eli Benzaquen. I am grateful to David Segal and Itay Ehre for their advice on subjects pertaining to their respective areas of expertise. I owe much to the patience of various English editors: Judi Felber, Kate Neptune, David Kelly-Hedrick, and especially Linda Landau, who managed to guide the work to completion. I wish to express my gratitude to my colleagues and friends at the International Society for Humor Studies, the International Society for Value Inquiry, and the various associations of Practical Philosophy for their sustained interest in and support of my work. I owe particular thanks to my faithful assistants, the staff and academ- ics of my department, especially Simi Sarig, Hillel Nossek and Eva Berger, who supported my research. The extraordiany help of the librarians at the ix
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