Abstract
In this paper, we will introduce and discuss a Social Interaction Theory of Laughter, focusing our attention on both the continuities and discontinuities between human and animal laughter. We claim that laughter does not have to be studied from a starting point that prioritises humor, but rather from a theory of emotions able to provide an account of the constructing of social bonds. We will show how there are two main kind of laughter and we will focus on the “semiotic laughter”, the type of the laughter that can be used in order to lie.Starting from Umberto Eco’s theory that connects laughter with death and language, we claim that laughter is a protologos able to shape social interactions in a very unique way. We will also explain why, according to a theory grounded upon a deep continuity between animal and human laughter, it has been claimed that laughter is typical of mankind. Our answer lies in the special relationship between pathe and logos that exits inside human institutions, where emotions have to be modulated under the aegis of the logos.
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