Superiority theory
Owing to its great cultural significance, there are several reasons explaining the origin of this phenomenon. Initially, it was proposed by Plato and Aristotle and Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan". The jist of the theory comes to the statement that a person laughs about misfortunes of others, as these misfortunes confirm the person's supremacy concerning shortcomings of others.
On his part, Aristotle considered that people laughed at inferior or other hideous humans. He stated that any person felt a joy at being supreme to other human beings. As Plato reported, Socrates was of slightly different opinion. He suggested the idea of the ridiculous being characterized by a display of self-ignorance.
It should be noted that superiority theory is regarded as one of the most primitive. It is primitive from the viewpoint of the mechanisms that rule human emotions, including laughter. Many current scholars claim that the human mind and mentality are much more complicated than the foundation of the superiority theory. In fact, this theory could be applied to the simplest and most brutal forms of humour, including aggression, mocking of the mighty at the weak, the rich at the poor, etc.
In modern democratic society, the superiority theory must be rejected and substituted by other more progressive hypotheses.