Cultural Writing. Newly Available. Translated from the French by Cloudesley Brereton and Fred Rothwell. By laughter, society avenges itself for the liberties taken with it. It would fail in its object if it bore the stamp of sympathy or kindness. In this great philosophical essay, Henri Bergson explores why people laugh and what laughter means. The author of CREATIVE EVOLUTION and other influential works of the Twentieth Century begins with a discussion of laughter in general, focusing in the second part on laughter in situations and the comic in words, and, in the final section, on the comic in character. First translated into English in 1911, this important work has long been unavailable.