Associate Lecturer, Nicole Graham, has written a chapter called ‘Laughing with “horrible” people: reaffirming ethical boundaries through laughter’ in a new book, Ethics in Comedy: Essays in Crossing the Line, edited by Steven Benko, Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Nicole shares, “The book is an edited collection that explores the ethics of comedy through a series of different case studies and from a variety of different perspectives.
Although my research interests are within humour and religion, this chapter takes a more philosophical approach and engages in the question of the ethics of laughter, through the writings of the philosopher Francis Hutcheson. The chapter explores how laughter is a powerful means of solidifying a group’s identity and reinforcing social morality.
Laughter has the power to make or break relations; it has the capacity to deeply offend or upset someone, just as much as it can strengthen friendships and romantic bonds. It is therefore important to consider what we laugh at and who we laugh with, and whether or not who we laugh with changes what we laugh at. More specifically, it considers whether games create a ‘safe’ space for profanity and offense.
Through an analysis of the party game Cards Against Humanity I highlight the complexity of identifying the line between humour and offence. Indeed, as there appears to be a suspension of moral responsibility within the game, I seek to understand the ways that the ethical boundaries of a given society can be transgressed by laughter without consequence. The game intentionally challenges social etiquette and expectations, but it also provides a safe space to laugh. I argue that these safe spaces offer a temporary release from social norms, yet ultimately reinforce their existence in the ‘real world’.”