JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 12:2 (2006) Sage Publications New Delhi/Thousand Oaks/London DOI: 10.1177/097168580601200206 Humour, Jokes and the Statement

In standard theories of knowledge, issues like jokes, humour and laughter are not dealt with for the simple reason that these categories do not inhabit the world of true knowledge, and are hence not worthy of serious attention or study because these issues do not by their nature contribute to further generation of true know-ledge. Taking a cue from Sigmund Freud, this article seeks to work on the possibilities of jokes, humour and even laughter, and their relation to the language of the statement of truth. It may be seen that in spite of the superior claims of the so-called language of the statement of truth, and its not so veiled indignation at humour and jokes, one category is in dialogue with another in contexts and perhaps with itself. Sukanta Acharya is at 18/2 Smashan Kalitala Road, Kolkata 700 008. It is not easy to be humorous about the idea of humour, or make a joke or a statement, if psycho-logists and other social scientists and linguists are to be believed. But from the practititoner’s point of view, humour can work better than making a statement in contexts. Freud’s Jokes and their Relation to the Uncon