Disgust as Embodied Moral Judgment
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“Disgust as Embodied Moral Judgment” (2008) is a study by Simone Schnall, Jonathan Haidt, Gerald L. Clore, and Alexander H. Jordan. The study is based on an experiment in which people are exposed to fart spray while answering ethical questions.
People who breath foul air, respond much harsher than people who don't.
The authors seem to want to prove that there is a two-way street between moral judgment and disgust.
In his book The Righteous Mind, Haidt admits that there is danger in this way of thinking:
- "I could see the dark side of this ethic too: once you allow visceral feelings of disgust to guide your conception of what God wants, then minorities who trigger even a hint of disgust in the majority (such as homosexuals or obese people) can be ostracized and treated cruelly. The ethic of divinity is sometimes incompatible with compassion, egalitarianism, and basic human rights." Footnote: "Martha Nussbaum (2004) has made this case powerfully, in an extended argument with Leon Kass, beginning with Kass 1997.
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Abstract
- "How, and for whom, does disgust influence moral judgment? In 4 experiments participants made moral judgments while experiencing extraneous feelings of disgust. Disgust was induced in Experiment 1 by exposure to a bad smell, in Experiment 2 by working in a disgusting room, in Experiment 3 by recalling a physically disgusting experience, and in Experiment 4 through a video induction. In each case, the results showed that disgust can increase the severity of moral judgments relative to controls. Experiment 4 found that disgust had a different effect on moral judgment than did sadness. In addition, Experiments 2-4 showed that the role of disgust in severity of moral judgments depends on participants’ sensitivity to their own bodily sensations. Taken together, these data indicate the importance - and specificity - of gut feelings in moral judgments."
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