In this article it is maintained that laughter has raised, at least in the Western World, since biblical times, both caution in social interaction and prestige as a therapeutical tool. In the XVIth century, in particular, the search for the nature of the laughable was promoted side by side with the recommendation that people should laugh in moderation out of urbanity and for physiological reasons.
Laughter; joy; passions; ancient physiology; Galenism