Technology is a laughing matter: Bergson, the comic and technology

• DOI: 10.1007/s00146-015-0612-9
• Publication Date: 2015-09-08T05:29:00Z
• Authors: Steffen Steinert
• Keywords: 06 humanities and the arts; 0603 philosophy, ethics and religion

There seems to be no connection between philosophy of humor and the philosophy of technology. In this paper, I want to make the case that there is. I will pursue a twofold goal in this paper: First, I will take an account from one of the seminal figures in the philosophy of humor, Henri Bergson, and bring out its merits for a philosophy of technology. Bergson has never been fully appreciated as a philosopher of technology. I will fill this gap and show that Bergson's account of the comic contains some interesting insights about our relation to technology. Second, I will show that humor and the comic open up a new perspective on technology that may facilitate new ways of thinking about our technological culture.