Komika bez vtipu, smích bez důvodu
The Comic without Jokes, Laughter without Reason

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the relationship between the comic, laughter and philosophy in the work of Vladimír Borecký. Borecký denies any essential link between laughter and the comic. Nevertheless, he had, not only theoretically, devoted himself to both a specific comic and a specific laughter — in short: to a comic without jokes and to laughter without any reason — and he was interested in the relationship between the two. A comic without jokes can only be achieved through demanding, even ascetic practice, which draws significantly from philosophy. The path to the comic without jokes is also the path to philosophy or quasi-philosophy without knowledge, even if it takes the form of “knowledge of not knowing”. The absence of jokes and knowledge does not imply the absence — but neither the presence — of laughter. But then, any laughter is always a mysterious gift from a divine dimension. In almost all essential points, Borecký is inspired by phenomenology, especially by Martin Heidegger, but also by Eugen Fink. At the same time, following Gilles Deleuze, he tries to create an absurd-comic variant of Heidegger’s non-metaphysical philosophy.

• Details
• Contents