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  • © 1998

Enjoyment

From Laughter to Delight in Philosophy, Literature, the Fine Arts, and Aesthetics

Part of the book series: Analecta Husserliana (ANHU, volume 56)

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Table of contents (24 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
  2. Celebrating Life: Joy, Laughter, Mirth, Amusement, the Smile of the Soul...

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-2
    2. The Smile of the Mind: From Molière to Marivaux

      • Cynthia Osowiec Ruoff
      Pages 43-56
  3. The Circuits of Laughter

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 173-174
    2. Comic Rhythms in Leonardo da Vinci

      • Patricia Trutty-Coohill
      Pages 185-202
    3. Laughter and Enjoyment: La Fontaine and Fragonard

      • Mary Elisabeth Mccullough
      Pages 209-226

About this book

Philosophy, art criticism and popular opinion all seem to treat the aesthetics of the comic as lightweight, while the tragic seems to be regarded with greater seriousness. Why this favouring of sadness over joy? Can it be justified? What are the criteria by which the significance of comedy can be estimated vis à vis tragedy? Questions such as these underlie the present selection of studies, which casts new light on the comic, the joyful and laughter itself. This challenge to the popular attitude strikes into new territory, relating such matters to the profundity with which we enjoy life and its role in the deployment of the Human Condition. In her Introduction Tymieniecka points out that the tragic and the comic might be complementary in their respective sense-bestowing modes as well as in their dynamic functions; they might both share in the primogenital function of promoting the self-individualising progress of human existence.
For the first time in philosophy, laughter, mirth, joy and the like are revealed as the modalities of the essential enjoyment of life, being brought to bear in an illumination of the human condition.

Editors and Affiliations

  • The World Institute for Advanced Phenomenological Research and Learning, Belmont, USA

    Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Enjoyment

  • Book Subtitle: From Laughter to Delight in Philosophy, Literature, the Fine Arts, and Aesthetics

  • Editors: Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka

  • Series Title: Analecta Husserliana

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1425-9

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1998

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-4677-7Published: 31 March 1998

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-4889-9Published: 18 April 2012

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-017-1425-9Published: 14 March 2013

  • Series ISSN: 0167-7276

  • Series E-ISSN: 2542-8330

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIV, 329

  • Number of Illustrations: 14 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Phenomenology, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Man

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access