A Supplement to Freud's Theory of Wit*

In his depth-psychological introduction of the nature of wit Freud concludes that its topographical seat is in the unconscious while the seat of the comic and that of the humor is in the preconscious. From the standpoint of economy all these phenomena display a tendency towards condensation of the spiritual material; considered dynamically, humor has its origin in a displacement of the super-ego.

In his treatise on narcissism Freud explains the reason of our liking the humorist as consisting in his ability to ignore narcissistically all of his difficulties. In his work on Humor, Freud takes up this question at greater detail analyzing its various phases, showing that the humorist indulges in make-believe, that he identifies himself with a benevolent but mighty parent who is ready to help him who makes light of all his pains and troubles.

Freud's dynamic explanation of the nature of wit is somewhat deficient. It is the purpose of this paper to fill up the gap. It must be added that Reik also sought to supplement and to complete Freud's studies on this subject by introducing at times entirely new suppositions.

It is the writer's purpose to attempt to prove that the dynamic viewpoint is more conducive to a better understanding not only of the nature of humor but also that of wit and the comic.

In Freud's theory of wit the dynamic explanation reveals the fact that the humorist with the assistance of his super-ego, will turn away from reality and will try to escape into illusion. All this is due to the displacement of the super-ego. This may sound strange because of our knowledge that the validity of our proof of reality of the ego is dependent to a great extent upon the function of the super-ego. It is the writer's opinion that this part of the Freudian theory of wit will become irrefutable only when our knowledge of the super-ego will be widened and thus become more complete.