Zarathustra’s Disgust: Rejecting the Foundation of Western Metaphysics

Abstract

Research on disgust as an emotion has lagged behind research on other emotions due perhaps to the same repulsion it confronts. Disgust is disgusting. In a recent study by Olatunji it was found that there are 10-20 times more papers per year on fear and anger than on disgust (Olatunji). Despite this, there has still been a large number of investigations into the importance of disgust in a variety of areas. Disgust plays an essential role in our socialization, in selecting our friends, sexual partners, social group, and even our moral concepts (Vivario, “Core, Social and Moral Disgust”, 185). Despite the comparative lack of research on disgust compared to other emotions, the empirical work has blossomed in the last decade. There is a greater understanding of the neural-correlates of disgust including insula and its interconnected circuits (Murphy et. al.; Wicker et. al.; Schäfer et al.; Fusar-Poli et. al.; Kirby and Robinson). There has also been research conducted on the importance of genes for the experiences of disgust regarding taste and smell (Reed, “Diverse Taste”; Reed “Genetics of Taste and Smell”). This has also included research on the neuro-functional relationships disgust plays within our moral experiences (Chapman and Anderson; Chapman and Kim et. al.; Whitton et. al.; Vicario “emotional Appraisal”; Vicario, “Morality and Disgust”; Tybur et. al.; Landy; Jones; Eskine). A few studies have also suggested the importance of disgust for communication and education (Curtis). A communicative and pedagogical approach to disgust has been found effective, for example, in hand washing rates (Drummond et. al.; Judah et. al.).