Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Full Download PDF of (Ebook PDF) Dynamic Business Law 4th Edition by Nancy Kubasek All Chapter
Full Download PDF of (Ebook PDF) Dynamic Business Law 4th Edition by Nancy Kubasek All Chapter
Full Download PDF of (Ebook PDF) Dynamic Business Law 4th Edition by Nancy Kubasek All Chapter
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-dynamic-business-law-
the-essentials-4th-edition-by-nancy-kubasek/
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-dynamic-business-
law-5th-edition-by-nancy-kubasek/
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-dynamic-business-law-
the-essentials-3rd-edition-by-kubasek/
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-canadian-business-law-
today-canadian-edition-by-nancy-breen/
Dynamic Business Law 5th Edition (eBook PDF)
http://ebooksecure.com/product/dynamic-business-law-5th-edition-
ebook-pdf/
http://ebooksecure.com/product/dynamic-business-law-the-
essentials-3rd-edition-ebook-pdf/
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-dynamic-business-law-
the-essentials-5th-edition/
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-cultural-
anthropology-4th-edition-by-nancy-bonvillain/
http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-management-practice-in-
dietetics-4th-edition-by-nancy-r-hudson/
About the Authors vii
firm that provides negotiation, ethics, and team training Professor Barkacs currently spends her time teach-
for the private sector. Professor Barkacs has published ing, publishing, consulting for The Barkacs Group,
numerous journal articles in the areas of law, ethics, and doing volunteer work for various civic causes. She
and negotiation. She and her husband are coauthoring enjoys walking, weight lifting, and spending her free
a book on negotiation. She has been the president, vice time with her husband Craig and their three cats, Phoe-
president, conference chair, and treasurer of the Pacific nix, Violet, and Vanessa.
Southwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business
(www.pswalsb.net).
A Guided Tour
We are full of gratitude to the reviewers, adopters, and students who have stimulated us to
create this fresh and improved 4th edition of Dynamic Business Law. Any book is a work in
progress, and certainly this one is no exception. It is humbling indeed to check and proof-
read and study, but still omit things that should be included and fail to adequately explain
what we do include. But with your assistance, we feel we have a much better book now.
We have constructed a book that is both comprehensive and readable. But the features
integrated into the chapters provide its distinctive worth. Each feature stands by itself as an
aid to the kind of learning we hope to encourage. Yet the features are also a cohesive unit,
Confirming Pages
contributing both to the liberal education of the students who use this book and to their
skills as decision makers in a market economy.
Specifically, we provide a comprehensive examination of all the relevant questions,
concepts, and legal rules of business law. Our text addresses the power and authority
8 Part 1 The Legal Environment of Business
of constitutions, statutes, case law, and treaties as sources of law. Together the various
elements of what we call “the law” make up the foundation and structure of the market
3. The arbitrator refused to postpone the hearing despite sufficient cause, refused to hear
relevant evidence, orexchange process.to prejudice the rights of one of the parties.
otherwise misbehaved
4. The arbitrator exceeded Decisions to trade
his or her authority andtoproduce
or failed requireto trust—trust
use that authority make a that consumers, firms, workers,
mutual, final, and definite award.
financial institutions, and asset owners will do as they promise and that violations of such
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that these four grounds are the exclusive grounds
promises will be unacceptable in the marketplace. Without guarantees that promises will
for vacating, modifying, or correcting an arbitrator’s award, and parties cannot expand
be kept,
on these grounds in contract. 10 market exchanges
Consequently, in the United would
States, grind to adecisions
arbitration halt. Business law provides these guarantees
are generally upheld. Other
andcountries are taking actions
the boundaries withinto which
increase certain
the number of arbitra-can be made and enforced.
promises
tions, while reducing the need to appeal the arbitration decisions. For example, Brazilian
lawmakers reformed severalMarket
articles indecisions
the Brazilianare
Civilmade
Code to inincrease
a context—a
the practicepersistently
of changing context. The law, in
arbitration. These reformsturn, is dynamic
mandate insign
that parties response. New commitment”
an “arbitration technologies and business practices bring new disputes
during
arbitration proceedings. This commitment states the disputed issue, the venue of the arbi-
over rights and responsibilities in a business setting. Future business leaders need knowl-
tration, and the parties involved. The arbitration commitment renders the outcome of the
arbitration comparable toedge of existing
a decision business
handed down by thelaw, as well
judiciary asConsequently,
branch. a set of skills permitting them to adjust efficiently
parties no longer need toand
appeal to the judiciary branch after an arbitration hearing.
effectively to new legal issues that arise over the course of their careers.
We are excited
Legal Principle: An arbitration award can about
be setthe contents
aside for onlyoffour
ourreasons:
features and want to explain the function of
(1) the award resulted from fraud or corruption; (2) the arbitrator is biased or
corrupt; (3) the arbitrator misbehaved in a way that prejudiced the rights of a party; in business.
each of them in preparing our students for leadership
and (4) the arbitrator misused his authority in the making of the award.
Confirming Pages
chapter contains multiple “Comparing Some judges, lawyers, and politicians in the United States advo- intervention, has been a part of Japanese culture for hundreds
cate the adoption of Japan’s ADR techniques into the U.S. judiciary of years. In modern times, conciliation committees consist of one
system. The techniques come in three forms: compromise, concili- judge and two appointed members of the community. Acceptance
the Law of Other Countries” boxes. ation, and arbitration. of the committee’s recommendation is not necessary, but if the
Compromise (wakai) is defined as a contractual agreement parties wish to concede, the recommendation has the force of a
Because so many market decisions are between parties that becomes the basis for a voluntary settlement. Due judgment.
to the voluntary nature, no compromise is possible if one party does not The final type of ADR is arbitration (chusai). The arbitration
made in an international context, future wish to settle. Compromise may be proposed at three distinct times. procedure in Japan is markedly similar to that in the United States.
First, a simple compromise may be reached before the initiation of a A two- or three-judge panel reaches a recommendation that is a
business leaders need to familiarize suit. Second, after initiation, but before litigation, the parties may appear binding decision.
in court and present a compromise. Such a compromise is legally bind- The success and popularity of all three types of ADR in Japan
ing on both parties. Third, parties may compromise during litigation, are attributed to the attitudes of the citizens. People in Japan are
themselves with the likelihood that a which is when most compromises occur. It has been estimated that reluctant to bring a lawsuit against a fellow citizen. To them, using
nearly one-third of all disputes are settled using compromise. ADR is a less brash way to resolve a dispute than suing someone
particular legal principle essential to The second ADR technique used in Japan is conciliation outright. Obviously, this attitude is quite distinct from that of the
(chotei). Conciliation, reaching compromise through a third party’s American legal culture.
doing business in one country may not
be appropriate in other countries. The “Comparing the Law of Other Countries” boxes
have settlement authority. Third, the procedures of the minitrial can be modified to meet
provide heightened awareness of this likelihood by illustrating how more preciselyunique the needs the
of thelaw
parties.in a
For example, parties may give the neutral adviser
the authority to settle the case if the representatives cannot come to a settlement agreement
certain country often is. After reading dozens of these “stories ofafter difference,”
a certain period of time. readers will
certainly better understand the need to discover relevant law in all EAR jurisdictions
LY NEU TR AL EVALUATI where their ON
market decisions have legal implications. With early neutral evaluation, sometimes called early neutral case evaluation, the parties
select a neutral third party and explain their respective positions to this neutral, who then
We believe that students learn innumerable valuable lessons about U.S. business law by in the Northern District of California,
evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the case. The parties use this evaluation to reach
a settlement. Early neutral evaluation was pioneered
20
contrasting the concepts of our business law system with those of our primary trading part-
and is now used in a number of other federal courts.
ners. We typically use Canada, Japan, China, Russia, Mexico, andPSeveral thestates European
R I VATE TR I ALS
Union for
now allow private trials, an ADR method in which a referee is selected and
our comparisons because modern business managers will more likely paid by thebe interacting
disputing parties to offer awith
legally binding judgment in a dispute. The referees
do not have to have any specific training; however, because retired judges often serve as
the law in those particular jurisdictions. referees, this method is often referred to as “rent-a-judge.”
Generally, a private trial occurs after a case has been filed in district or state court.
After the parties have engaged in discovery and developed their positions, the parties may
choose to participate in a private trial. The parties would typically notify the trialPages
Confirming judge
overseeing their case that they are participating in a private trial. The disputing parties
C. E-COMMERCE BOXES determine the time and place of the trial and conduct the trial in private to ensure confi-
dentiality. The referee writes a report stating the findings of fact and the conclusions of the
A central feature of modern business law. This report is filed with the trial judge; however, if any party is dissatisfied with the
resolution of the case, the party can request a trial before a trial court judge. If this request
decisions is new technology, specifi- E-COMMER Cis E
denied,
A NtheDpartyT can
H Eappeal
L AtheWdecision of the referee.
cally the rapid spread of electronic TORT LAW VERSUS CRIMINAL LAW TO IMPROVE THE ONLINE
PERSONALS INDUSTRY
20
Neutral Evaluation: A Technique Whose Time has C, available at: http://corporate.findlaw.com/litigation-disputes/neutral-
evaluation-an-adr-technique-whose-time-has-come.htmlome
commerce. This development has cre- Suppose your ex-boyfriend posed as you on a number of online per- You might be able to pursue the creator of the website,
88 sites, such as iwantu.com. He posted what he described as your depending on how the facts play out and on your state’s law.
sonals
ated new challenges and opportuni- rape fantasies and listed your name and address. He then encouraged You might be able to sue for defamation, false-light invasion
men to act out your fantasies in person. Would you be afraid? How of privacy, negligence, and/or intentional infliction of emo-
ties that were unforeseeable until very might criminal law respond? Could tort law also help you? In a real tional distress. You will face an uphill battle, though, in meeting
case in 1992, Gary Dellapenta, the ex-boyfriend, was sentenced to six your burden of proof. In the mid-1990s, Ken Zeran brought tort
recently. With each edition, we are years in prison for violating California’s then new cyberstalking law. claims against a radio station that broadcast untrue information
If someone were threatening you as Dellapenta threatened his suggesting he was selling T-shirts and other items with insen-
kub23585_ch04_0070-0095.indd 88 08/25/16 04:14 AM
enhancing our coverage of technology ex-girlfriend, you might want the creator of the website and/or an sitive remarks about the Oklahoma City bombing of a federal
Internet service provider to assist you in pulling the posts before building. Zeran was unable to prove any of the torts he alleged.
x A Guided Tour
relationship, mediation is popular because it allows parties to preserve their relation-
ship throughout the dispute. Mediation helps parties work together to reach a consensus.
Because parties are encouraged to communicate openly, they usually do not experience
bitterness toward the opposing party. Furthermore, each party typically leaves mediation
with a better understanding of the opposing party; consequently, this understanding may
actually facilitate a better working relationship between the parties. Therefore, the first D. CONNECTING TO THE CORE
advantage of mediation is that it helps disputing parties preserve their relationships.
The second advantage to mediation is the potential for creative solutions. The parties The business curriculum, as experienced by
are responsible for offering alternatives to solve problems. A party to mediation is often
not necessarily looking for a money award. Instead, that party may be trying to find a solu- students, can easily be seen as a collection
tion so that both parties can benefit from the resolution of the dispute.
In addition, parties to mediation have a high level of autonomy. Unlike liti-
of silos, with each silo, or academic depart-
To see how ADR relates to
gation or arbitration, where a neutral third party makes a decision that resolves
the dispute, mediation allows parties to take control of the process and resolve
ment, walled off from the others with its
resolving conflicts that arise in
the workplace, please see the
the dispute together. The parties generally have more dedication to the agree-
ment because they helped make the decision. Finally, mediation, like other
own special language and issues. But suc-
Connecting to the Core activity
in Connect.
methods of alternative dispute resolution, is less costly, less time-consuming,
and less complicated than litigation.
cessful business decisions start with the rec-
These benefits can obviously be very worthwhile. However, critics of medi-
ation argue that its informal process improperly creates an image of equality
ognition that decision makers should take
between the parties. Consequently, we improperly assume that the resulting agreement advantage of the interrelatedness of the vari-
between the parties is also equal. However, if one party has more power than the other, the
agreement is not necessarily fair or equal. Thus, the image of equality in mediation can be ous subject areas.
misleading. Furthermore, a party who knows that he or she has no chance of winning a
case could enter the mediation process in bad faith, with no intention of making an agree- The purpose of the Connecting to the
ment. Therefore, some people may abuse the mediation process in an attempt to simply
draw out the dispute. Core feature is to drive home the point that
Uses of Mediation. Mediation is used to resolve collective bargaining disputes. Because concepts from finance, accounting, market-
workers and employers must continue to work together, mediation typically helps preserve
the relationship between the workers and the employers. Under the National Labor Rela- ing, management, and economics are closely
tions Act (NLRA), a union must contact the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services
to attempt to mediate its demands before beginning a strike to achieve higher wages or linked to concepts and dilemmas in business
better working hours.
Similarly, the law. The study
Equal Employment of business
Opportunity Commission law
(EEOC)isencourages
best seen the as a foundational component of the larger study
mediation of employment discrimination claims. The EEOC has a mediation program that
of business
uses mediators employed administration.
by the EEOC, This
as well as external mediators feature
trained in media-for the fourth edition has been placed on the web-
181,734 mediations.siteApproximately
assigned71to
tion and discrimination law. Between 1999 and 2014, the EEOC mediation program held
7 Dynamic
percent Business
of these mediations (129,924Law.
charges)
were successfully resolved.
Mediation is also commonly used in environmental disputes. For example, Japan has
created a committee, the Environmental Pollution Disputes Committee, devoted solely to
E. CRITICAL THINKING
the resolution of environmental disputes. This committee may use mediation or arbitra-
tion. Why is mediation particularly useful for environmental disputes? First, mediation
After each case in the book, we have provided critical-thinking questions to highlight the
allows for creative solutions and compromises, which are often needed in environmental
disputes. Suppose an endangered species makes its home on land that an entrepreneur
need to think critically about the reasoning used by the court. In addition, we include
recently purchased with the intention of building a bed-and-breakfast facility. Because the
7
in every chapter a Point / Counterpoint problem that encourages the reader to evaluate
“History of the EEOC Mediation Program,” www.eeoc.gov/mediate/history.html.
the conflicting reasoning surrounding a key issue in the chapter. Legal evolution occurs
through a process of curiosity, an awareness of new problems in the marketplace, and sen-
sitivity to rights and responsibilities that havePages
Confirming not been given proper attention.
But we do much more than just ask a lot of critical-thinking questions at particular
kub23585_ch04_0070-0095.indd 74
locations throughout the chapters. We encourage the use of a step-by-step critical-thinking
08/25/16 04:14 AM
approach that[continued] has been developed and used in classrooms in many countries. We do not
just
Variyam argues, and the court of repeatedly
appeals agreed, that urge
having a reputation for untruthfulness would “affect his
students
whereas the other doestoso “think critically.”
affect it.” Accordingly,
allegations that Variyam lacked veracity and dealt in half-
the Instead, we describe for them what is
meant by that phrase
relationship with other physicians that might send him
business or work.” The court of appeals noted that “[l]ike
in the context of business law. We include this step-by-step approach
truths do not adversely affect his fitness for proper conduct
as a physician.
in Appendix 1A attorythe
lawyers and bankers, a physician such as Variyam, by defi-
nition, depends greatly on his reputation.” But the inquiry
end of Chapter 1. Instructors who want to emphasize critical think-
In sum, Hancock’s statements . . . were not defama-
per se because they did not injure Variyam in his profes-
is not whether a reputation is necessary for a profession. If
that were true—because all professions require reputations
sion as a physician by ascribing that he lacked a necessary
skill peculiar or unique to the profession. Specifically, the ing can use that appendix as a struc-
of some sort—all statements defaming professionals would statements here regarded Variyam’s truthfulness, not the
be defamatory per se. Rather, the proper inquiry is whether lack of a necessary, peculiar skill which would render Vari- tured approach for learning how to
a defamatory statement accuses a professional of lacking yam unfit for proper conduct as a physician. Accordingly,
a peculiar or unique skill that is necessary for the proper to recover for defamation, Variyam was required to prove evaluate legal reasoning.
conduct of the profession. The specific trait of truthful- actual damages, which he did not do. There is no evidence
ness is not peculiar or unique to being a physician. As the of mental anguish because evidence that Variyam experi-
comments to the Restatement illustrate, “a charge that a enced some sleeplessness and other anxiety does not rise to
physician is dishonest in his fees is actionable, although the level of a substantial disruption in his daily routine or a
an imputation of dishonesty in other respects does not
affect his character or reputation as a physician.” . . . Like-
high degree of mental pain and distress. . . . Finally, because
Variyam did not establish actual damages, he cannot recover
F. ETHICAL REASONING
wise, “a statement that a physician consorts with harlots
is not actionable per se, although a charge that he makes
exemplary damages. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment
of the court of appeals and render judgment that Variyam
After each case in the book, we have
improper advances to his patients is actionable; the one
statement does not affect his reputation as a physician
take nothing.
Reversed in favor of Defendant
provided ethical reasoning questions
to highlight the need to think ethi-
cally about the reasoning used by the
CRITICAL THINKING ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
court. Throughout, our book empha-
What potential stakeholders are adversely affected? Which set of stakeholders would you weigh the heaviest
in deciding a case of this type? Why would you raise their sizes consideration of all stakeholder
interests above those of other relevant parties?
interests in every market decision.
If you say your boss is a tyrant or your roommate is a slob, are you in danger of being
sued for defamation? Probably not, because such statements are really subjective opinions
not capable of being proved. As such they are generally not actionable.
One of the important elements of defamation is that the defamatory statement must be
damaging to someone’s reputation, as the nearby Case Nugget illustrates.
The increase in communication over the Internet has presented new questions for the
law of defamation to answer. First, does a false statement made over the Internet constitute
defamation? Second, if it does, who can be held liable?
The court first attempted to answer these issues in the case of Cubby v. CompuServ,7
in which CompuServ was sued because of defamatory statements published on one of the
A Guided Tour xi
Business ethics should never be an afterthought or something firms consider because they
think they must.
Instead, business ethics is what provides the social legitimacy for markets, what dis-
tinguishes markets from the life of the jungle. While market decisions are calculating and
purposeful, they must at the same time reflect awareness that the good and the right pro-
vide social borders that elevate those decisions above simple greed and egoism.
Ethical discussion focuses on the basic observation that we are socially and globally
interdependent as entrepreneurs, asset owners, workers, businesspeople, and consumers.
Our inescapable contact with one another requires that our aspirations be defined, at least
in part, by their impact on others.
Our text has several ethical reasoning possibilities in each chapter. But for the reader
to make use of this emphasis requires a practical step-by-step approach. In other words,
students need more than just a discussion about values or ethics. They need to have some
sense that the discussion is headed somewhere. They want to know, “How will my behav-
ior be any more ethical after I have read the chapter and participated in the class discus-
sions?” Our text answers their question.
Chapter 2 provides a clear explanation of our approach—an approach that students can
use on a regular basis. The language and organization of our model of ethical reasoning
leans implicitly on standard ethical theories. But it meets the challenge of a fast-paced busi-
ness world. It pushes stakeholders to the forefront of market decisions, where they belong,
and does so in a manner that is both powerful and doable without becoming tedious.
Business ethics are the guidelines we use to shape the world we want to create. As
such, they provide guidance for the kind of business behavior we want to reinforce. After
each case excerpt, under the heading “Ethical Decision Making,” we pause to think about
the ethics of business law by asking a question or questions derived from the practical
approach to business ethics developed in Chapter 2. Because we want students to see stake-
holder interests as having numerous ethical dimensions, we have included frequent refer-
ences to the ethical questions arising in modern business enterprises throughout Dynamic
Business Law.
xii
What’s New in the Fourth Edition? xiii
Chapter 14 Agreement
∙ Added new case, Paul Ehlen v. John M. and LynnDee Melvin.
∙ Created new E-Commerce and the Law content called “E-Signatures.”
Chapter 15 Consideration
∙ Added new Case Nugget about lack of consideration in an option contract.
∙ Added new case about promissory estoppel Bouton v. Byers.
Chapter 25 Warranties
∙ Added new Case Nugget under Warranty Disclaimers and Waivers Old Mexican Foods,
Inc. v. Hanson Staple Company.
∙ Added new Point/Counterpoint “Do the Implied Warranties Diminish the Fundamental
Free Market and the Right to Contract?”
Required=Results
©Getty Images/iStockphoto
McGraw-Hill Connect®
Learn Without Limits
Connect is a teaching and learning platform
that is proven to deliver better results for
students and instructors.
Connect empowers students by continually
adapting to deliver precisely what they
need, when they need it, and how they need
it, so your class time is more engaging and
effective.
Analytics
Connect Insight®
Connect Insight is Connect’s new one-
of-a-kind visual analytics dashboard that
provides at-a-glance information regarding
student performance, which is immediately
actionable. By presenting assignment,
assessment, and topical performance results
together with a time metric that is easily
visible for aggregate or individual results,
Connect Insight gives the user the ability to
take a just-in-time approach to teaching and
learning, which was never before available.
Connect Insight presents data that helps
instructors improve class performance in a
way that is efficient and effective.
Adaptive
THE ADAPTIVE
READING EXPERIENCE
DESIGNED TO TRANSFORM
THE WAY STUDENTS READ
©Getty Images/iStockphoto
SmartBook®
Proven to help students improve grades and
study more efficiently, SmartBook contains
the same content within the print book, but
actively tailors that content to the needs of the
individual. SmartBook’s adaptive technology
provides precise, personalized instruction on
what the student should do next, guiding the
student to master and remember key concepts,
targeting gaps in knowledge and offering
customized feedback, and driving the student
toward comprehension and retention of the
subject matter. Available on smartphones and
tablets, SmartBook puts learning at the student’s
fingertips—anywhere, anytime.
www.mheducation.com
Acknowledgments
This element of the Preface contains a palpable tone of gratitude and humility. Any project
the scope of Dynamic Business Law is a collective activity; the authors are but the visible
component of a remarkably large joint effort. We want to thank several contributors by
name, but there are doubtlessly many other students, colleagues, and friends who made
essential contributions to these pages.
Our largest gratitude goes to the dozens of business law colleagues who saved us from
many embarrassing errors, while tolerating our stubborn reluctance to adhere to certain of
their suggestions. Many thanks go to our manuscript reviewers and focus group participants:
xxiv
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Country people laugh at a person because they never saw him before.
Any one dressed in the height of the fashion, or quite out of it, is
equally an object of ridicule. One rich source of the ludicrous is
distress with which we cannot sympathize from its absurdity or
insignificance. It is hard to hinder children from laughing at a
stammerer, at a negro, at a drunken man, or even at a madman. We
laugh at mischief. We laugh at what we do not believe. We say that an
argument or an assertion that is very absurd, is quite ludicrous. We
laugh to show our satisfaction with ourselves, or our contempt for
those about us, or to conceal our envy or our ignorance. We laugh at
fools, and at those who pretend to be wise—at extreme simplicity,
awkwardness, hypocrisy, and affectation.”
A beautiful definition of the Disappointment Theory is Max
Eastman’s, “The experience of a forward motion of interest
sufficiently definite so that its ‘coming to nothing’ can be felt.”
Mr. Eastman says further:
“It is more like a reflex action than a mental result. It arises in the
very act of perception, when that act is brought to nothing by two
conflicting qualities of fact or feeling. It arises when some numb
habitual activity, suddenly obstructed, first appears in consciousness
with an announcement of its own failure. The blockage of an instinct, a
collision between two instincts, the interruption of a habit, a ‘conflict of
habit systems,’ a disturbed or misapplied reflex—all these
catastrophes, as well as the coming to nothing of an effort at
conceptual thought, must enter into the meaning of the word
disappointment, if it is to explain the whole field of practical humor.
The ‘strain’ in that expectation is what makes it capable of humorous
collapse. It is an active expectation. The feelings are involved.”
The point of the Disappointment Theory, that of frustrating a
carefully built up expectation is exemplified in jests like these.
“Is your wife entertaining this winter?” asks one society man of
another. “Not very,” is the reply.
“I have to go to Brooklyn—” says a perplexed-looking old lady to a
traffic policeman. “Are you asking directions, ma’am, or just telling
me your troubles?”
The incongruity may be merely a collocution of words.
Mark Twain described Turner’s Slave Ship as “A tortoise-shell cat
having a fit in a platter of tomatoes.”
In a newspaper cartoon, a wife says to her husband, “Even if it is
Sunday morning and a terribly hot day, that’s no reason you should
go around looking like the dog’s breakfast!”
So we see the element of surprise must be combined with the
element of appropriate inappropriateness to gain the desired result.
In this story expectation is aroused for a human tragedy. The
incongruity and disappointment make its humor.
As Mr. Caveman was gnawing at a bone in his cave one morning,
Mrs. Caveman rushed in, exclaiming, “Quick! get your club! Oh,
quick!”
“What’s the matter?” growled Mr. Caveman.
“A sabre-toothed tiger is chasing mother!” gasped his wife.
Mr. Caveman uttered an expression of annoyance.
“And what the deuce do I care,” he said, “what happens to a
sabre-toothed tiger?”
It must be admitted that a hard and fast line cannot be drawn
between the two theories given us by the Greek philosophers.
Cicero subscribed to the Derision theory, and said the ridiculous
rested on a certain meanness and deformity, and a joke to be
pleasing must be on somebody. But he declared, also, that the most
eminent kind of the ridiculous is that in which we expect to hear one
thing and hear another said.
Several other Greek and Roman philosophers tackled the subject
without adding anything of importance, and some of them, as well as
later writers declared that the comic could never be defined, but is to
be appreciated only by taste and natural discernment; while many
moderns agree that all theories are inadequate and contradictory,
however useful they may be for convenience in discussion.
Perhaps the trouble may be that only serious-minded people
attempt a definition of humor, and they are not the ones best fitted
for the work.
For the discussion goes on still, and is as fascinating to some
types of mentality as is the question of perpetual motion or the
Fountain of Immortal Youth.
A useful commentary on the matter, and one appropriate at this
juncture is the following extract from the works of the celebrated
theologian, Dr. Isaac Barrow, an Englishman of the Seventeenth
century.
“It may be demanded,” says he, “what the thing we speak of is, and
what this facetiousness doth import; to which question I might reply,
as Democritus did to him that asked the definition of a man—’Tis that
which we all see and know! and one better apprehends what it is by
acquaintance, than I can inform him by description. It is indeed a thing
so versatile and multiform, appearing in so many shapes, so many
postures, so many garbs, so variously apprehended by several eyes
and judgments, that it seemeth no less hard to settle a clear and
certain notice thereof, than to make a portrait of Proteus, or to define
the figure of fleeting air. Sometimes it lieth in pat allusion to a known
story, or in seasonable application of a trivial saying, or in forging an
apposite tale; sometimes it playeth in words and phrases, taking
advantage from the ambiguity of their sense, or the affinity of their
sound; sometimes it is wrapped in a dress of luminous expression;
sometimes it lurketh under an odd similitude. Sometimes it is lodged
in a sly question; in a smart answer; in a quirkish reason; in a shrewd
intimation; in cunningly diverting or cleverly restoring an objection;
sometimes it is couched in a bold scheme of speech; in a tart irony; in
a lusty hyperbole; in a startling metaphor; in a plausible reconciling of
contradictions; or in acute nonsense. Sometimes a scenical
representation of persons or things, a counterfeit speech, a mimical
look or gesture, passeth for it. Sometimes an affected simplicity,
sometimes a presumptuous bluntness, gives it being. Sometimes it
riseth only from a lucky hitting upon what is strange; sometimes from
a crafty wresting obvious matter to the purpose. Often it consisteth in
one knows not what, and springeth up one can hardly tell how. Its
ways are unaccountable and inexplicable, being answerable to the
numberless rovings of fancy and windings of language. It is, in short, a
manner of speaking out of the simple and plain way (such as reason
teacheth and knoweth things by), which by a pretty surprising
uncouthness in conceit or expression doth affect and amuse the fancy,
showing in it some wonder, and breathing some delight thereto. It
raiseth admiration, as signifying a nimble sagacity of apprehension, a
special felicity of invention, a vivacity of spirit, and reach of wit more
than vulgar; it seeming to argue a rare quickness of parts, that one
can fetch in remote conceits applicable; a notable skill that he can
dexterously accommodate them to a purpose before him; together
with a lively briskness of humour not apt to damp those sportful
flashes of imagination. Whence in Aristotle such persons are termed
επιδéξιοι, dexterous men, and ευτροποι, men of facile and versatile
manners, who can easily turn themselves to all things, or turn all
things to themselves. It also procureth delight, by gratifying curiosity
with its rareness or semblance of difficulty (as monsters, not for their
beauty but their rarity—as juggling tricks, not for their use but their
abstruseness—are beheld with pleasure); by diverting the mind from
its road of serious thoughts; by instilling gaiety and airiness of spirit;
by provoking to such dispositions of spirit in way of emulation or
compliance; and by seasoning matter, otherwise distasteful or insipid,
with an unusual and thence grateful tang.”—Barrow’s Works, Sermon
14.
Also in the Seventeenth century there sprang into being a
definition that has lived, possibly because of the apt wording of its
phrase.
It is by Thomas Hobbes, who declared for the Derision Theory, but
with less sweetness and light than it had hitherto enjoyed.
“Sudden glory is the passion which maketh those Grimaces called
Laughter,” said Hobbes in the “Leviathan,” “and is caused either by
some sudden act of their own, that pleaseth them; or by the
apprehension of some deformed thing in another, by comparison
whereof they suddenly applaud themselves. And it is incident most to
them, that are conscious of the fewest abilities in themselves; who are
forced to keep themselves in their own favour, by observing the
imperfections of other men. And therefore much laughter at the
defects of others, is a signe of Pusillanimity. For of great minds, one of
the proper workes is, to help and free others from scorn; and compare
themselves onely with the most able.”
and, also from Hobbes:
“The passion of laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising
from a sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves by
comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly: for
men laugh at the follies of themselves past, when they come suddenly
to remembrance, except they bring with them any present
dishonour.”—Treatise on Human Nature, chap. ix.
There is small doubt that the vogue of Hobbes’ definition of this
theory rests on the delightfully expressive, “Sudden Glory,” for those
two words beautifully picture the emotion caused by the unexpected
opportunity to laugh at the discomfiture of another.
Locke followed with a dry and meaningless dissertation, and
Coleridge wrote his discerning but all too brief remarks.
Many German writers gave profound if unimportant opinions.
Addison wrote pleasantly about it, and George Meredith, while
accepting the Derision Theory, modified its harshness thus:
“If you believe that our civilization is founded in common-sense
(and it is the first condition of sanity to believe it), you will, when
contemplating men, discern a Spirit overhead; not more heavenly than
the light flashed upward from glassy surfaces, but luminous and
watchful; never shooting beyond them, nor lagging in the rear; so
closely attached to them that it may be taken for a slavish reflex, until
its features are studied. It has the sage’s brows, and the sunny malice
of a faun lurks at the corners of the half-closed lips drawn in an idle
wariness of half tension. That slim feasting smile, shaped like the
long-bow, was once a big round satyr’s laugh, that flung up the brows
like a fortress lifted by gunpowder. The laugh will come again, but it
will be of the order of the smile, finely tempered, showing sunlight of
the mind, mental richness rather than noisy enormity. Its common
aspect is one of unsolicitous observation, as if surveying a full field
and having leisure to dart on its chosen morsels without any fluttering
eagerness. Men’s future upon earth does not attract it; their honesty
and shapeliness in the present does; and whenever they wax out of
proportion, overblown, affected, pretentious, bombastical, hypocritical,
pedantic, fantastically delicate; whenever it sees them self-deceived
or hoodwinked, given to run riot in idolatries, drifting into vanities,
congregating in absurdities, planning shortsightedly, plotting
dementedly; whenever they are at variance with their professions, and
violate the unwritten but perceptible laws binding them in
consideration one to another; whenever they offend sound reason, fair
justice; are false in humility or mined with conceit, individually, or in
the bulk—the Spirit overhead will look humanely malign and cast an
oblique light on them, followed by volleys of silvery laughter. That is
the Comic Spirit.”
With Kant, however, the other theory of Aristotle came into notice.
Kant declared, “Laughter is the affection arising from the sudden
transformation of a strained expectation into nothing.”
This was dubbed by Emerson, “Frustrated Expectation,” and
describes the Disappointment Theory as Sudden Glory describes the
Derision Theory.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets
of the World of Humor.
There are many other theories and sub-theories, there are long
and prosy books written about them, but are outside our Outline.
A general understanding of the humorous element is all we are
after and that has now been set forth.
are witty rather than poetical; because the truth they convey is a mere
dry observation on human life, without elevation or enthusiasm, and
the illustration of it is of that quaint and familiar kind that is merely
curious and fanciful.”
Thus Hazlitt: yet it is not necessary to be so verbose in the matter
of discriminating wit from humor.
They are intrinsically different though often outwardly alike.
Wit is intensive or incisive, while humor is expansive. Wit is rapid,
humor is slow. Wit is sharp, humor is gentle. Wit is intentional, humor
is fortuitous.
But to my mind the great difference lies in the fact that wit is
subjective while humor is objective.
Wit is the invention of the mind of its creator; humor lies in the
object that he observes. Wit originates in one’s self, humor outside
one’s self.
Again, wit is art, humor is nature. Wit is creative fancy, more or
less educated and skilled. Humor is found in a simple object, and is
unintentional.
Yet in these, as in all definitions, we must stretch a point when
necessary; we must make allowances for viewpoints and opinions,
and we must agree that the question is not one that may be
answered by the card.
Nor is it necessary in the present undertaking.
An Outline of Humor is planned to include all sorts and conditions
of fun, all types and distinctions of wit and humor from the earliest
available records, or deductions from records, down to the dawn of
the Twentieth Century.
Man has been defined as the animal capable of laughter.
Although this definition has been attacked by lovers of quadrupeds, it
has held in the minds of thinkers and students. Aristotle, Milton,
Hazlitt, Voltaire, Schopenhauer, Bergson and many other
distinguished scholars hold that the playfulness seen in animals is in
no way an indication of their sense of humor.
The Laughing Hyena and the Laughing Jackass are so called only
because their cry has a likeness to the sound of raucous human
laughter, but it is no result of mirthful feeling.
Hazlitt says man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he
is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what
things are and what they ought to be.
The playfulness of dogs or kittens is often assumed to be humor,
when it is mere imitative sagacity. The stolid, imperturbable gravity of
animals’ faces shows no appreciation of mirth.
Oliver Wendell Holmes speaks of the large brown eyes of oxen as
imperfect organisms, because they may show no sign of fun.
Yet it is, in a way, a matter of opinion, for the instinct of humor was
among the latest to evolve in the human race, and rudimentary hints
of it may be present in other animals as in our own children. A
monkey or a baby will show amusement when tickled, but this is
mere physical reflex action, and cannot be called a true sense of
humor.
Many animal lovers assume intelligences in their pets that are
mere reflections of their own mental processes or are thoughts
fathered by their own wishes.
It is, however, of little importance, for however appreciative of fun
an animal may be, it cannot create or impart wit or humor, and most
certainly it cannot laugh.
Bergson goes even farther. He declares the comic does not exist
outside the pale of what is strictly human.
He states: You may laugh at an animal, but only because you
have detected in it some human attitude or expression.
This is easily proved by the recollection of the fun of Puss In
Boots or The Three Bears, and the gravity of a Natural History.
Therefore, Bergson argues, man is not only the only animal that
laughs, he is the only animal which is laughed at, for if any other
animal or any lifeless object provokes mirth, it is only because of
some resemblance to man in appearance or intent.
So, with such minor exceptions as to be doubtful or negligible, we
must accept man as the only exponent or possessor of humor.
And it is one of the latest achievements of humanity.
First, we assent, was the survival of the fittest. Followed a sense
of hunger, a sense of safety, a sense of warfare, a sense of Tribal
Rights,—through all these stages there was no time or need for
humor.
Among the earliest fossilized remains no funny bone has been
found.
Doubtless, too, a sense of sorrow came before the sense of
humor dawned. Death came, and early man wept long before it
occurred to him to laugh and have the world laugh with him.
Gregariousness and leisure were necessary before mirth could
ensue. All life was subjective; dawning intelligence learned first to
look out for Number One.
Yet it was early in the game that our primordial ancestors began to
see a lighter side of life.
Indeed, as Mr. Wells tells us, they mimicked very cleverly,
gestured, danced and laughed before they could talk!
And the consideration of the development of this almost innate
human sense is our present undertaking.
The matter falls easily,—almost too easily,—into three divisions.
Let us call them, Ancient, Middle and Modern.
This is perhaps not an original idea of division, but it is certainly
the best for a preliminary arrangement. And it may not be convenient
to stick religiously to consecutive dates; our progress may become
logical rather than chronological.
As to a general division, then, let us consider Ancient Humor as a
period from the very beginning down to the time of the Greeks. The
Middle Division to continue until about the time of Chaucer. And the
Modern Period from that time to the present.
ANCIENT HUMOR