Humour and humanism. The role of funniness in an imperfect life

This article explores the relationship between humour and humanism. We argue that humour is a pivotal part of human life, and demonstrate that it plays a significant role in the writings of various humanist authors. The very phenomenon and acknowledgement of the phenomenon of humour functions as a counterargument against those critics, especially posthumanists, who claim that the subject of humanism is an overly rational isolated atom. Our rigorous philosophical analysis will show that humour is an essential human feature, often neglected by such critics. Furthermore, our humane position on humour will offer an important complementation to the ethics of humour. In a humanist framework we defend the broadness of humour and argue against fixed universal rules. Instead, we believe that the ethics of humour is very much about respecting the other as a full human being.