According to the superiority theory (Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Hobbes, and René Descartes7), laughter is fundamentally mean-spirited, a form of mockery, derision, or scorn. The superiority theory says that we laugh primarily at other people, because we feel superior to them. The problems with this theory are that it can’t explain why we laugh when we’re tickled, or why we don’t laugh when we see a beggar on the street.
