This treatise presents and defends a new theory of humour, one designed to cover all examples of all types and to provide the foundations for a full account of the global phenomenon. Incongruity theory and the new theory are contrary in the strict logical sense of the term. Hence a determined effort is made to demonstrate that incogruity theory in general, in all its forms, fails. Among the topics covered are: the anti-essentialist approach; the concept of a humour process and that of the basic humour process; the subjective character of humour; the laughter of humour, relaxation and...