A few semesters ago I took Intro to Philosophy at Rock Valley College. I had an awesome professor who always made the class material exciting and interesting, and she never failed to get students to engage. I had a blast in that course.
Part of a long-term assignment in that course involved answering a series of essays that really forced me to stop and think about many concepts and beliefs that I have always held to be true, but that I might never have considered critically before.
One of these essay questions I have posted below, followed by how I responded to that question in my essay. Enjoy!
Do your best to provide a conceptual analysis of “funny.” In other words, do your best to identify the necessary and sufficient conditions for something to count as funny.
Humor is Personal and Relative
While contemplating this question and trying to establish a conceptual analysis of what is “funny,” I first and foremost came to realize that humor is both highly personal and extremely relative. I say it is highly personal because the things a person admits to finding funny can reveal an awful lot about that person’s background and personality. For example, if a terribly racist joke is told to a group of ten strangers, and only one person laughs, it is safe to assume that the other nine people are automatically going to make judgements about the character of the person that laughed.
I say humor is extremely relative because what a person considers to be funny in one situation may not be considered funny under different circumstances. Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates and American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. shared the following belief: A group is less moral than an individual. I believe this idea extends to the concept of humor, as well. A group of people who watch a kid wipe out on his skateboard, for instance, will probably chuckle to themselves and go about their business. But a lone person watching this accident occur is more likely to run over and make sure the kid is okay.
Despite the very personal and relative nature of humor, however, I believe there are some necessary and sufficient conditions that can be established.
Necessary Condition #1: Shock Value
I have come up with three different necessary conditions for something to be considered as funny. First, a funny thing must have some kind of element of surprise to it. In other words, it must be spontaneous or unexpected in order to be funny. Another way to put it would be to say it must have a “shock” value. I cannot think of any joke or funny situation in which the punchline or outcome was already known and still managed to be funny. Consider that a joke is at its apex of “funniness” the first time you hear it. After that, it may still be somewhat funny the third, sixth, or even tenth time around, but at a much lower measure than it was the first time. The reason is that is has lost its surprise, or shock value.
Necessary Condition #2: Comprehension
Another necessary condition for a thing to be considered as funny is that it must be understood, or comprehensible. This is a given. Everyone, at some point in their life, has been told a joke and it just didn’t make any sense. The typical reply in this situation is, “I don’t get it.” Obviously, the buildup of a joke – as well as it’s punchline – has to make sense to the recipient of the joke in order for it to be funny. If neither the buildup nor the punchline makes sense, the humor is lost. What usually follows is an explanation by the joke-teller of why the joke was supposed to be funny; this results in a significantly diminished form of “funny,” if the joke even has a humorous element left to it at all after being explained. Therefore, comprehension of the humor being demonstrated is a must.
Necessary Condition #3: Superiority
One more necessary condition for a thing to be funny is that it cannot make me feel inferior to it. For example, if I am overweight and someone tells a fat joke, I am going to feel inferior to that joke and not find it funny. Perhaps a better way of stating this is to say that a thing cannot be funny unless I feel a sense of supremacy or dominance over it.
I find it funny to turn on my television and see a baby talking to me about the advantages of e-trading. However, if I were to turn on my television and see Charles Manson talking to me about e-trading, it would not be humorous at all. Rather, it would be a bit creepy, strange, and off-putting. The reason for this is that I subconsciously feel a sense of superiority over a talking baby, but not over a serial killer.
Here’s another example: I do a search on YouTube for “cats attacking.” The first video I watch is of an adorable, fuzzy kitten playfully attacking her owner’s wiggling finger on the living room floor of Anytown, U.S.A. The second video I watch is of a six-hundred pound Bengal tiger attacking an unsuspecting hiker deep in the jungles of India. The video of the kitten I find funny, because I feel dominant both over the kitten and over the setting in which the “attack” is taking place. I have a sense of supremacy over kittens, and I am comfortable with the setting of a living room located in Anytown, U.S.A. The video of the tiger I find absolutely horrifying, because I do not feel supreme to tigers nor do I feel any sense of comfort or familiarity with the jungles of India. Thus, a sense of superiority over the joke or situation is necessary for that thing to be funny.
Sufficient Condition: Make me Laugh!
As for sufficient conditions, there is but one: a thing need only create within me the urge to laugh in order to be deemed “funny.” This may or may not be expressed as physical or audible laughter. I must use specific, intentional language in this description. The reason for this alludes back to my introduction, in which I identified that humor is both personal and relative. I may find myself in a situation where something strikes me as funny and I get the urge to laugh, but the mood or circumstances of the situation require that I not do so. Just because I don’t laugh doesn’t mean the thing isn’t funny. As long as the urge to laugh or feeling of laughter is created, the sufficient condition for a thing to be funny is met.
What makes something funny to you? Share your thoughts below!
open mouth, say things. 
Great read! Loved the necessary conditions! Agree that humor has to be smart as well as spontaneous to be hilarious.
Thanks!