The Wisdom of Laughter for the Ancient Greeks

Thursday 04 Jun 2026

What is humour? What does it do for us and for society? From the way the ancient Greeks thought of laughter to contemporary philosophy, it is a fascinating subject that influences our daily lives.  

From Plato to Bergson and, more recently, N. Carroll, philosophers have always emphasised the importance of aggressiveness in humour. Indeed, it is well known that many jokes are based, directly or indirectly, on racism, sexism, or other forms of discrimination. If there is no positive value in these types of aggression, is it possible to regulate the humour that gives rise to them? 

Furthermore, we should attempt to explain why we find such jokes amusing, even if we object to their content. Pierre Destrée and Elena Cagnoli Fiecconi will present this problem and its philosophical history. They will then discuss two very different ways in which ancient Greek philosophers proposed regulating it—those of Plato and Aristotle, respectively. 

 

Additional information

Pierre Destrée

Pierre Destrée is an Associate Research Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain. His research focuses primarily on ancient ethics and aesthetics, and he is particularly interested in how ancient philosophers used humor in their philosophical practice. He is currently working on two books dealing with humour in ancient philosophy: The Wisdom of Laughter: Practices of Humor in Ancient Philosophy; and (with M. Johnson) Diogenes: Practising Cynic Philosophy through Laughter. 

 

Elena Cagnoli Fiecconi

Elena Cagnoli Fiecconi is an Associate Professor in Ancient Philsophy at University College London. She works especially on Aristotle’s ethics and philosophy of mind, but she has broad interests in other ancient philosophical traditions. She recently published Ethics for Rational Animals (OUP 2024).