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Quote by Simon Critchley

“We might even define the human as a dynamic process produced by a series of identifications and misidentifications with animality.”

Book:On Humour

Work

On Humour

This book delves into the intricate nature of humor, examining its role in human communication, social interactions, and its impact on psychology and culture. It analyzes the evolution of humor from ancient times to the modern era, discussing its significance in literature, comedy, and everyday life. more

Author

Simon Critchley

Simon Critchley is a British philosopher known for his contributions to existentialism and ethics. His work covers a wide range of topics, including political philosophy, aesthetics, and moral philosophy. Critchley's research interests include the ideas of philosophers such as Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Foucault. more

“When the animal becomes human, the effect is pleasingly benign and we laugh outloud, "Okay come clean now. This isn't really about hunting, is it?" But when the human becomes animal, the effect is disgusting, and if we laugh at all, then it is what Beckett calls the "mirthless laugh", which laughs at that which is unhappy.”

Ifs Humans Animal Laughing Effects Okay Clean Unhappy Hunting Disgusting Benign Beckett

Author:Simon Critchley

“I've always been very keen on Pascal, and what I'm most keen on in Pascal is his emphasis upon human wretchedness. He has a phrase which goes something like 'Anxiety, boredom and inconstancy, that is the human condition' and I've always been very partial to that.”

Humans Conditions Anxiety Phrases Boredom Human Condition Emphasis Wretchedness Pascal Inconstancy

Author:Simon Critchley

“Melancholia for Freud is the relationship that the subject takes up with respect to itself from the position of what he calls conscience or what he later calls the super-ego. And that can be lacerated - if you think of the anorexic who sees themselves from the perspective of the image they have, of the image they have of themselves in the mirror which is false - that would be the super-ego. Super-ego is what generates depression and it is what has to be dealt with in psychoanalysis.”

Ifs Thinking Would Be Subjects Position Perspective Ego Conscience Mirrors Psychoanalysis Anorexics

Author:Simon Critchley

“The thing about humour is that the super-ego is also at play, so what interested me, particularly in the last chapter which is key to the book -and no one seems to have picked this up in writings on Freud - is that, in the later Freud, the essence of humour is the ability to look at myself and find myself ridiculous. That makes me laugh.”

Writing Looks Book Play Seems Lasts Ability Laughing Humour Keys Ego Essence Ridiculous Chapters Make Me Laugh

Author:Simon Critchley