Léon Dumont
Encyclopedia
Léon Dumont was a French psychologist and philosopher. He influenced Nietzsche and William James
and is perhaps best known for his treatise on the causes of laughter (Des causes du rire).
One has seen that to laugh is to disarm hate and anger and to extract from some judges indulgence for a sin. In a word, the good joke, applied appropriately to any subject, has the effect of sweetening the deal for us:
Ridiculum acri
fortius et melius magnus plerumque secat res. - Horace
(A good joke often cuts an important deal strongly and sweetly.)
But, like any free action, the joke submits to the law of morality; the joke is virtuous or the joke is evil. In general, the joke only has moral value in the mouth of a morally serious person.
William James
William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism...
and is perhaps best known for his treatise on the causes of laughter (Des causes du rire).
Dumont's closing thoughts from the last page of Des causes du rire
The miserable beggar said to the King of France, "Thy image is everywhere except in my pocket."One has seen that to laugh is to disarm hate and anger and to extract from some judges indulgence for a sin. In a word, the good joke, applied appropriately to any subject, has the effect of sweetening the deal for us:
Ridiculum acri
fortius et melius magnus plerumque secat res. - Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
(A good joke often cuts an important deal strongly and sweetly.)
But, like any free action, the joke submits to the law of morality; the joke is virtuous or the joke is evil. In general, the joke only has moral value in the mouth of a morally serious person.
See for evidence that Dumont influenced Nietzche and Williams James
- The Principles of Psychology In Chapter 4, William James praises Dumont's De l'habitude, Revue Philosophique,TOME I, pages 321-366.
- Will to powerWill to powerThe will to power is widely seen as a prominent concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The will to power describes what Nietzsche may have believed to be the main driving force in man; achievement, ambition, the striving to reach the highest possible position in life; these are all...
This entry has references for Dumont's influence on Nietzsche.
See other topics related to Léon Dumont
- History of biology#Nineteenth century: the emergence of biological disciplines
- History of psychology#Early French Psychology
Selected works
- Des causes du rire (1862)
- Jean Paul et sa poétique (1862)
- Le Sentiment du gracieux (1863)
- Antoine Watteau (1866)
- Théorie de l'évolution en Allemagne (1873)
- Théorie Scientifique de la Sensibilité (1875)
- De l'habitude (1876)
- La théorie de la sensibilité (1876)
- Vergnügen und Schmerz : zur Lehre von den Gefühlen (Théorie scientifique de la sensibilité, dt.) Autoris. Ausg. Leipzig : Brockhaus, 1876 (Internationale Wissenschaftliche Bibliothek ; 22)
External links
- Serge NICOLAS: Histoire de la psychologie française au XIXe siècle (frz.)
- Philosophie et psychologie en France (1877)
- Complete original text of Des causes du rire (1862)
- http://www.scribd.com/doc/16147579/Leon-A-Dumont-Haeckel-et-la-theorie-de-levolution-en-Allemagne-1873
- Complete original text of Un philosophe amateur (1884)
- The Sense of Humor, 1921. Pages 157-9 of Max Eastman's book discuss Dumont's ideas on laughter.