2024.08.3 : View this Review Online | View Recent NDPR Reviews
Claire Horisk, Dangerous Jokes: How Racism and Sexism Weaponize Humor, Oxford University Press, 2024, 204pp., $32.88 (hbk), ISBN 9780197691496.
Reviewed by Mary Kate McGowan, Wellesley College
Jokes are no joke; they can harm, disparage, and reinforce an unjust social hierarchy. Jokes also function in a complex communicative manner, and when we are amused, we are less critical of the derogating messages conveyed by jokes. In Dangerous Jokes: How Racism and Sexism Weaponize Humor, Claire Horisk argues persuasively for these claims. The book is clearly and carefully written in a manner accessible to a general audience. This is no small feat since the book also successfully incorporates complex tools from the philosophy of language as well as quite a bit of empirical research. It also argues for two novel philosophical claims. For philosophers of language interested in manipulative speech, and indeed for anyone interested in how jokes actually work, this is a…
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