The academic study of humor is marvelously interdisciplinary. It draws on insights from philosophy, psychology, linguistics, sociology, classics, and the actual performance of humor in everyday life to create a rich body of work on a complex part of the human experience. In this lively, much-needed volume, Robinson brings together a wide-ranging selection of writing on amusement (the characteristic emotion of humor) and its various moral implications. Written by contributors across the disciplinary spectrum, the essays cover subjects from the basic question of what amusement is and how its relationship with moral judgment works to deeper matters, such as amusement’s actual moral effects. The book also includes some helpful groundwork in the ancient sources (Plato, Zhuangzi) on which more contemporary accounts may distantly depend. Although the underlying themes of the book are philosophical in nature, each essay looks at its subject in terms of social, linguistic, and psychological concerns, making the volume a largely applied rather than purely theoretical endeavor. The writing is engaging and accessible, and the contributors do a very good job of connecting readers to current debates on the subject without resorting to confusing cross-referencing. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.

Choice Reviews

The Moral Psychology of Amusement is what would happen if a philosopher, a psychologist, a sociolinguist, and a classicist walked into a bar. As interdisciplinary as it is rigorous, this is a tour de force that is sure to become a must-have in the field.

Steven Gimbel, Gettysburg College