Will and Mirth

Mirth has a distinctive status in Spinoza's system--it is a pleasure of the whole of an entity, as opposed to localized pleasures that he characterizes as 'stimulation' or 'titillation'. Now, the relation between that distinction and his general definition of 'pleasure'--an increase in the strength of an entity--is unclear, since it leaves unexplained how a localized pleasure can constitute an increase in the condition of an entity as a whole. In any case, the characterization of pleasure as stimulating, even with a derogatory connotation, demonstrates that pleasure is not for Spinoza, as it is often elsewhere taken to be, a termination of a preceding process, but an origination of an new one. Here, Will is the source of all novelty, so Pleasure is a concomitant of Will. Furthermore, on this model, the primary function of Comprehension is homeostatic, so insofar as it effects balance in the exercise of Will, the resulting action can be called 'mirthful', or, 'exhilarating', a more common contemporary synonym.