Abstract

This article aims to study the issue of laughter, which has yet not been sufficiently discussed in terms of philosophy and to analyze the content and context of the funny thing. Views of great philosophers such as Plato, Aristoteles, Bergson and Hegel, about laughter, will be studied to find out whether comedy, which seems to have belonged to the lower social class throughout the history, can be considered as a form of social opposition regarding political philosophy. The social and connecting dimension of laughter will be discussed within the framework of Bergson’s views and it will be noted that laughing together can only be possible on a social and historical ground of consensus. It will be stated that laughter can have a connecting and transforming power only if the historical and social contexts are properly evaluated.