Humor can have a multitude of functions and definitions. It also causes laughters or smiles of all kinds. In this article, the author does not pretend to report on humor and laughter as such, but on two specific trends that they can follow. First of all, stupid laughter is the one that fosters the forgetting of our finitude, our fragility, of death. By giving the fraudulent impression of triumph over misery, it celebrates mutilated life and participates in the strengthening of the illusory harmony of society. Yet, laughter can also approach suffering, death and painful situations as an emancipatory force. This second approach is associated with what we call "ethical humor".