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So with all this recent talk about comedy,
I thought it would be fitting to begin our episode here today with a passage from the philosopher Frederick Nietzsche and his famous book The Will to Power.
Nietzsche writes this, quote, Perhaps I know best why man alone laughs.
He alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.
The unhappiest and most melancholy animal is, as fitting, the most cheerful.
End quote.
So Nietzsche had a special place in his heart for comedy, and a special place for it in the work of a philosopher.
He famously said that he has a ranking for philosophers, not based on how good their ideas are,
not based on how sound their arguments are, but simply by their ability to use humor in their work.
Now, as fans of philosophy, this can initially be a little confusing.
Why would Nietzsche ever even consider the legitimacy of a philosopher's work in terms of how many knock-knock jokes they're telling?
Well his ultimate point is going to be instructive towards our episode here today,
but it's going to take a couple minutes to get to.
The best place to start is going to be all the way back where we began last episode,
through the work of the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus and his famous debate with another pre-Socratic philosopher,
Parmenides.