Yuck!

The Nature and Moral Significance of Disgust

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Psychology, Emotions, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Cover of the book Yuck! by Daniel Kelly, The MIT Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Daniel Kelly ISBN: 9780262294843
Publisher: The MIT Press Publication: June 10, 2011
Imprint: A Bradford Book Language: English
Author: Daniel Kelly
ISBN: 9780262294843
Publisher: The MIT Press
Publication: June 10, 2011
Imprint: A Bradford Book
Language: English

An exploration of the character and evolution of disgust and the role this emotion plays in our social and moral lives.

People can be disgusted by the concrete and by the abstract—by an object they find physically repellent or by an ideology or value system they find morally abhorrent. Different things will disgust different people, depending on individual sensibilities or cultural backgrounds. In Yuck!, Daniel Kelly investigates the character and evolution of disgust, with an emphasis on understanding the role this emotion has come to play in our social and moral lives.

Disgust has recently been riding a swell of scholarly attention, especially from those in the cognitive sciences and those in the humanities in the midst of the "affective turn." Kelly proposes a cognitive model that can accommodate what we now know about disgust. He offers a new account of the evolution of disgust that builds on the model and argues that expressions of disgust are part of a sophisticated but largely automatic signaling system that humans use to transmit information about what to avoid in the local environment. He shows that many of the puzzling features of moral repugnance tinged with disgust are by-products of the imperfect fit between a cognitive system that evolved to protect against poisons and parasites and the social and moral issues on which it has been brought to bear. Kelly's account of this emotion provides a powerful argument against invoking disgust in the service of moral justification.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

An exploration of the character and evolution of disgust and the role this emotion plays in our social and moral lives.

People can be disgusted by the concrete and by the abstract—by an object they find physically repellent or by an ideology or value system they find morally abhorrent. Different things will disgust different people, depending on individual sensibilities or cultural backgrounds. In Yuck!, Daniel Kelly investigates the character and evolution of disgust, with an emphasis on understanding the role this emotion has come to play in our social and moral lives.

Disgust has recently been riding a swell of scholarly attention, especially from those in the cognitive sciences and those in the humanities in the midst of the "affective turn." Kelly proposes a cognitive model that can accommodate what we now know about disgust. He offers a new account of the evolution of disgust that builds on the model and argues that expressions of disgust are part of a sophisticated but largely automatic signaling system that humans use to transmit information about what to avoid in the local environment. He shows that many of the puzzling features of moral repugnance tinged with disgust are by-products of the imperfect fit between a cognitive system that evolved to protect against poisons and parasites and the social and moral issues on which it has been brought to bear. Kelly's account of this emotion provides a powerful argument against invoking disgust in the service of moral justification.

More books from The MIT Press

Cover of the book The Anatomy of Bias by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book Rule of Law, Misrule of Men by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book The Problem With Software by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book The End of Ownership by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book Landscapes of Collectivity in the Life Sciences by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book Foundations of Statistical Natural Language Processing by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book Your Everyday Art World by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book Giving a Damn by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book Numbered Lives by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book Laws, Outlaws, and Terrorists by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book Inventing Future Cities by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book Documenting Aftermath by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book A Prehistory of the Cloud by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book The Time of Our Lives by Daniel Kelly
Cover of the book Hanan al-Cinema by Daniel Kelly
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy