Project Gutenberg 2009-10-27 Public domain in the USA. 144 Collins, Anthony 1676 1729 Bloom, Edward A. (Edward Alan) 1914 1994 Bloom, Lillian D. 1920 2002 Bloom, Lillian Doris 70633346 A discourse concerning ridicule and irony in writing (1729) Produced by Tor Martin Kristiansen, Joseph Cooper, Stephanie Eason, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. "A Discourse concerning Ridicule and Irony in Writing" by Anthony Collins is a polemical work written in the early 18th century. This text critiques the use of ridicule and irony in religious writing and debates, particularly against the backdrop of Collins's own contentious interactions with the Anglican establishment. It seeks to challenge the notion that serious topics, especially those related to religion, should be exempt from humor and irony. The opening of the discourse introduces the context of a letter addressed to Reverend Dr. Nathanael Marshall, who had advocated for a serious approach to religion that eschews mockery and ridicule. Collins counters this argument, suggesting that such serious discourse often masks hypocrisy and ignorance that deserve to be ridiculed. He asserts that laughter and irony are natural human responses to absurdities in human belief systems, especially in matters of faith. Collins promotes the idea that serious arguments are often intertwined with the use of humor and satire, providing examples from historical and contemporary figures who embraced these rhetorical devices to critique religious issues effectively. This sets the stage for an exploration of the intersection of comedy and serious discourse, illustrating how ridicule can serve as a tool for philosophical inquiry and debate. (This is an automatically generated summary.) file:///public/vhost/g/gutenberg/html/files/30343/30343-rst/images/img-cover.jpg Reading ease score: 50.1 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. en Satire PN Text Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches Category: Philosophy & Ethics Category: Religion/Spirituality 250344 2025-07-12T11:29:06.988587 text/html 230174 2024-10-24T20:29:25 text/html 190968 2025-07-12T11:29:15.608032 application/epub+zip 192256 2025-07-12T11:29:10.786545 application/epub+zip 165408 2025-07-12T11:29:09.400551 application/epub+zip 463114 2025-07-12T11:29:18.823013 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 416944 2025-07-12T11:29:14.644069 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 204676 2022-09-14T05:48:29.696598 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 202453 2023-09-13T09:55:29.231604 text/plain 182480 2024-10-24T20:29:25 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17379 2025-07-12T11:29:18.966990 application/rdf+xml 23299 2025-07-12T11:29:09.927552 image/jpeg 4565 2025-07-12T11:29:09.662540 image/jpeg 185773 2025-07-12T11:29:07.007583 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia