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On Humour is a fascinating and beautifully written book on what philosophy can tell us about humor and about what it is to be human. Simon Critchley probes some of the most perennial features of humor, such as our tendency to laugh at animals and our bodies, why we mock death with comedy and why we think it's funny when people start to act like machines. He also looks as the darker side of humor, as when rife with sexism and racism, and shows how humor might remind us of people we would rather not be. Above all, Simon Critchley argues that humor can tell us much about the human condition, the meaning of life and why comedy itself begins in philosophy. [Editor note]