Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic' is a philosophical work written by Henri Bergson. In this influential essay, Bergson explores the nature and significance of laughter in human life. Bergson argues that laughter is a uniquely human phenomenon and seeks to uncover its underlying causes and social functions. The author delves into the comedic elements present in various situations, such as comic characters, wordplay, and incongruity. Through a blend of wit, analysis, and anecdotal examples, Bergson examines how laughter arises from the tension between rigid social norms and the inherent flexibility of human behavior. The book also addresses the psychological and physiological aspects of laughter, exploring its release of pent-up energy and its role in social bonding.

This is a fascinating work, with all the clearness characteristic of French criticism and the carefulness of a philosophic thinker, and it is excellently done into English. But few will be converted to M. Bergson's theory of the comic. Laughter is defined at the outset as a social corrective of the anti-social, and its cause has universal characteristics, however it occur. The laughable is always human: it is devoid of emotional elements and appeals to intelligence pure and simple; it appeals only to some social group and may be unintelligible to outsiders. It is the automatic and mechanical aspect of what should be living and free that makes us laugh. With this as a "leitmotiv," M. Bergson analyzes the comic in forms and movements, in situations and words, and in character. The chapter dealing with this last phase is the most deeply interesting, for it gives us the author's views on art and its relation to life, and hints at his ethics. Comedy belongs neither to art nor to life; its position is equivocal. Art deals with the individual and real, comedy with types. Comedy organizes laughter, and its material is ready-made when life is seized upon by vanity. In his conclusion he admits that we often sympathize with the comic character and are relieved from the strain of thinking. Again, "laughter is simply the result of a mechanism set up in us by nature or, what is almost the same thing, by our long acquaintance with social life. It goes off spontaneously... It has no time to look where it hits." We are told that laughter is often unjust, and should never be kind. If we push the matter farther, the result may be most unflattering: "Laughter is gaiety itself. But philosopher, who gathers a handful to taste, may find that the substance is scanty and the after-taste bitter." The book would repay a much more detailed analysis, and it is perfectly delightful to read. - Richard Smith, International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 216-218.