I definitely agree with Bergson...

Laughter seems to be a very common activity, especially with my friends and me. I believe that laughter has a “social signification.” Therefore, I agree with Bergson’s view of laughter compared to Hobbes’s. According to Bergson, “our laughter is always the laughter of a group.” In addition, he mentions that comedy “refers to the customs and ideas of a particular social group.” Bergson is right; most jokes that provoke laughter are “inside jokes” and some jokes are only funny to a particular sex, race, or social class. To reinforce the fact that most jokes are only funny to a particular group, Bergson imagines the situation in which a group of people on a train car is laughing about something. He states, “Had you been one of their company, you would have laughed like them, but, as you were not, you had no desire to do so.” Bergson and Hobbes have two different views on what kinds of activities provoke laughter. Bergson mentions that involuntary clumsiness causes laughter, while Hobbes states that “observing the imperfections of other men” causes laughter. In addition, Hobbes’s opinion is that “sudden glory is the passion which maketh those grimaces called laughter.” First of all, I would not consider laughter a “grimace,” and second, I do not believe that glory is the product of laughter. I do not laugh because I think I am better than someone else is. Overall, laughter is a way to release stress and bond with my friends for me. I would never use someone else’s bad luck or lack of knowledge to make myself feel better; I would rather laugh with the other person, than at the other person. Bergson seems to view laughter in a similar way as me, as a carefree way to have fun, while Hobbes takes a cynical and harsh view on laughter.