Does disgust guide moral behavior, or does it hamper it? Does disgust play a critical role in ordinary moral judgments, or almost no role at all? In this volume, experts in the field come together to explore fundamental questions about the role that disgust plays (and ought to play) in our moral lives. This book features twelve new essays, nestled comfortably at the intersection of psychology and philosophy.
The Moral Psychology of Disgust brings together leading scholars-ethical theorists, cognitive scientists, developmental psychologists, legal scholars, cognitive neuroscientists, anthropologists-each answering questions that arise at the intersection of morality and disgust. The book introduces readers to the most pressing issues facing the field, and gives a perspective that is representative of the range of views and concerns that reflect the current research terrain.
The book addresses three main themes: the origins of moral disgust, exploring the evolutionary function of disgust and its role in sustaining group dynamics; the psychological mechanisms underlying disgust responses and the way in which disgust influences reasoning about agency, violence, sex, and meaning; and the ethical challenges posed by disgust. The contributors explore whether we are justified in using disgust to form beliefs about right and wrong and how disgust sheds light on the very nature of morality.

1. Introduction: Disgust, an emotion of many faces, Nina Strohminger and Victor Kumar / Part I: The origins of moral disgust / 2. Evaluating accounts of moral disgust through an evolutionary lens, Joshua Tybur, Catherine Molho and Daniel Balliet / 3. Disgust, manners and morality, Valerie Curtis / 4. The Social Origins of Disgust, Joshua Rottman, Jasmine DeJesus, and Emily Gerdin / 5. Why and How Disgust Permeates Law, Carlton Patrick and Debra Lieberman / Part II: How moral disgust works / 6. Guilty minds and gross acts, Alek Chakroff and Liane Young / 7. The moral consequences of disgust in the context of sexual assault, Laura Niemi / 8. Why the weird seems impure: Threat compensation and moral disgust, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and Eleanor Hanna / 9. Is moral disgust a form of disgust?, David Pizarro / Part III: The philosophy and ethics of moral disgust / 10. Disgust and Public Policy, Yoel Inbar / 11. Gross Violations, Carol Hay / 12. The Moral and Political Limits of Disgust, Joshua May / 13. Projectivism Psychologized: A Philosophic Idea in Cognitive Scientific Clothing, Dan Kelly / 14. Putting our Morals Where our Mouths Are: Disgust, Food, and Morality, Alexandra Plakias / 15. Varieties of Disgust: Aesthetic and Moral Aspects, Carolyn Korsmeyer / Index

Nina Strohminger is postdoctoral fellow in Cognitive Science at Yale University
Victor Kumar is postdoctoral fellow in Philosophy at the University of Toronto