“The Uses of Humor”

What are the ethical uses of humor?  Humor is fun. It can provide important cathartic release of tension and bond groups together. Humor can help us keep our perspective. But humor can also mock and degrade others. It can divide people and create an “in-group” and an “out-group.” Hugh Taft-Morales explores the nature and uses of humor.

Hugh Taft-Morales joined the Baltimore Ethical Society as its professional leader in 2010, the same year he was certified by the American Ethical Union as an Ethical Culture Leader. He also serves as Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia. His presence in Ethical Culture has been termed “invigorating.” Taft-Morales lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, with his wife Maureen, a Latin American Analyst with the Congressional Research Service, with whom he has three beloved children, Sean, Maya, and Justin.