Wisecracks

David Shoemaker is professor of philosophy at Cornell University. He is the author of two books including Responsibility from the Margins.

"Shoemaker turns attention away from public controversy to ordinary life, lowering the rhetorical temperature. Many of us make fun of family and friends, their flaws and foibles, in ways that involve mockery or stereotyping—wisecracks we wouldn’t venture in public. . . . In giving them their due, [Shoemaker] sheds new light on the ethics of these everyday interactions."

• IntroductionPart One: Humor, Morality, and the Relations between ThemChapter One. “You Had to Be There!”: The Nature of HumorChapter Two. “That’s Just Not Funny!”: How Morality Does (and Doesn’t) Bear on HumorPart Two: Morally Troublesome Wisecracks: A Guided TourChapter Three. “Back When I Was in ’Nam . . .”: Deceptive WisecracksChapter Four. “Lay Off!”: Mockery, Misfortune, and MeannessChapter Five. “Somebody Ought to Throw Those Boys a Basketball!”: Stereotyping HumorPart Three: Finding FunnyChapter Six. “I Feel Your Hilarious Pain”: Flawed Senses of Humor, Flawed Senses of MoralityChapter Seven. “Always Look on the Bright Side of Death”: How and Why to Find the Funny in Pain and TragedyConclusionAcknowledgmentsNotesReferencesIndex