Anger and Morality
Topoi 34 (2):475-482 (2015)
Abstract
The emotion of anger has a long love–hate relationship with morality. On the one hand, anger often motivates us to sanction wrongdoing and uphold demanding moral standards. On the other hand, it can prompt aggression behaviors that are at odds with morality and even lead to moral disasters. This article describes this complex relationship. I argue that the intensity of anger elicited by moral transgressions is highly sensitive to key variables, including the identity of the person wronged, the nature of the wrongdoing, and expectations about what should and will be done. Depending on the context, we sometimes experience more anger than would be commendable and sometimes less. These characteristics of anger, in turn, explain the ubiquity of norms and discourses aimed at governing the expression of this emotionDOI
10.1007/s11245-014-9238-7
My notes
Similar books and articles
Characteristics of anger: Notes for a systems theory of emotion.Michael Potegal - 2005 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28 (2):215-216.
Emotions and Morality: The View from Classical Antiquity.David Konstan - 2015 - Topoi 34 (2):401-407.
Punitive emotions and Norm violations.Benoît Dubreuil - 2010 - Philosophical Explorations 13 (1):35 – 50.
On the relationship of frontal brain activity and anger: Examining the role of attitude toward anger.Eddie Harmon‐Jones - 2004 - Cognition and Emotion 18 (3):337-361.
Sound morality: Irritating and icky noises amplify judgments in divergent moral domains.Angelika Seidel & Jesse Prinz - 2013 - Cognition 127 (1):1-5.
Making Political Anger Possible: A Task for Civic Education.Patricia White - 2012 - Journal of Philosophy of Education 46 (1):1-13.
Anger and asymmetrical frontal cortical activity: Evidence for an anger–withdrawal relationship.Leah R. Zinner, Amanda B. Brodish, Patricia G. Devine & Eddie Harmon-Jones - 2008 - Cognition and Emotion 22 (6):1081-1093.
Who responds how and when to anger? The assessment of actual anger response styles and their relation to personality.Inke Böddeker & Gerhard Stemmler - 2000 - Cognition and Emotion 14 (6):737-762.
Seeing the anger in someone's face.Rowland Stout - 2010 - Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 84 (1):29-43.
The Influence of Anger on Ethical Decision Making: Comparison of a Primary and Secondary Appraisal.Chase E. Thiel, Shane Connelly & Jennifer A. Griffith - 2011 - Ethics and Behavior 21 (5):380 - 403.
Analytics
Added to PP
2014-01-21
Downloads
80 (#154,256)
6 months
2 (#302,213)
2014-01-21
Downloads
80 (#154,256)
6 months
2 (#302,213)
Historical graph of downloads
Citations of this work
Contempt and disgust: the emotions of disrespect.Maria Miceli & Cristiano Castelfranchi - 2018 - Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 48 (2):205-229.
L’indignation : ses variétés et ses rôles dans la régulation sociale.Frédéric Minner - 2019 - Implications Philosophiques 1.
References found in this work
Wise Choices, Apt Feelings: A Theory of Normative Judgment.Allan Gibbard - 1990 - Harvard University Press.