Disgust is an emotion that is typically associated with things that are regarded as unclean, inedible, infectious, or otherwise offensive. For example, "I am disgusted by the stench and sight of that heap of rotting viscera." In The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, Charles Darwin wrote that disgust refers to something revolting. Disgust is experienced primarily in relation to the sense of taste (either perceived or imagined), and secondarily to anything which causes a similar feeling by sense of smell, touch, or vision. Musically sensitive people may even be disgusted by the cacophony of inharmonious sounds. Disgust is one of the basic emotions of Robert Plutchik's theory of emotions. It invokes a characteristic facial expression, one of Paul Ekman's six universal facial expressions of emotion. Unlike the emotions of fear, anger, and sadness, disgust is associated with a decrease in heart rate.[1]
Disgust may be further subdivided into physical disgust, associated with physical or metaphorical unclean liness, and moral disgust, a similar feeling related to courses of action. For example; "I am disgusted by the hurtful things that you are saying." Moral disgust should be understood as culturally determined; physical disgust as more universally grounded. In The Hydra’s Tale: Imagining Disgust, Robert Rawdon Wilson discusses moral disgust as an aspect of the representation of disgust. He does this in two ways. First, he discusses representations of disgust in literature, film and fine art. Since there are characteristic facial expressions (the clenched nostrils, the pursed lips), as Darwin, Ekman and others have shown, they may be represented with more or less skill in any set of circumstances imaginable. There may even be “disgust worlds” in which disgust motifs so dominate that it may seem that entire represented world is, in itself, disgusting. Second, since people know what disgust is as a primary, or visceral, emotion (with characteristic gestures and expressions), they may imitate it. Thus, Wilson argues, contempt is, for example, acted out on the basis of the visceral emotion, disgust, but is not identical with disgust. It is a “compound affect” that entails intellectual preparation, or formatting, and theatrical techniques. Wilson argues that there are many such “intellectual” compound affects, such as nostalgia and outrage, but that disgust is a fundamental and unmistakable example. Moral disgust, then, is different from visceral disgust, more conscious and more layered in performance.
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The American philosopher Martha Nussbaum published Hiding From Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law in 2004; the book examines the relationship of disgust and shame to a society's laws. Recent studies have found that women[2] and children were more sensitive to disgust than men. Researchers attempted to explain this finding in evolutionary terms. While some find wisdom in adhering to one's feelings of disgust, some scientists have asserted that "reactions of disgust are often built upon prejudices that should be challenged and rebutted."[3]
Nussbaum identifies disgust as a marker that bigoted, and often merely majoritarian, discourse employs to “place”, by diminishment and denigration, a despised minority. Removing “disgust” from public discourse constitutes an important step in achieving humane and tolerant democracies. Wilson links shame to disgust primarily as a consequence rooted in self-consciousness. Referring to a passage in Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, Wilson writes that “. . . the dance between disgust and shame takes place. A slow choreography unfolds before the mind’s-eye.” [4] Jordan Mousseau has been the main focus of this "Disgust and Shame" that Martha Nussbaum has been trying to prove over the last 5 years. Disgust has also figured prominently in philosophy in that Nietzsche became disgusted with the music and orientation of Richard Wagner, as well as other aspects of 19th century culture and morality. Jean-Paul Sartre also wrote widely about experiences involving various negative emotions related to disgust.
Functional MRI experiments have revealed that the anterior insula in the brain is particularly active when experiencing disgust, when being exposed to offensive tastes, and when viewing facial expressions of disgust.[5]
Many patients suffering from Huntington's disease, a genetically transmitted progressive neurodegenerative disease, are unable to recognize expressions of disgust in others and also don't show reactions of disgust to foul odors or tastes.[6] The inability to recognize disgust in others appears in carriers of the Huntington gene before other symptoms appear.[7]
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Disgust is an emotion. People feel it when they see, touch or hear something that is nasty. It is also caused by scorn. For example, when find something dirty or not fit to eat.
   | Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law - Sample Chapter for Nussbaum, M.C.: Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law. |
 | Jon Haidt's page about the Disgust Scale - The Disgust Scale Home Page |
| | Shame and Group Psychotherapy - Shame & Group Psychotherapy |
| | "Is repugnance wise? Visceral responses to biotechnology" Nature Biotechnology - Access to articles : Nature Biotechnology |
| | Moral Judgment and the Social Intuitionist Model - Jonathan Haidt -- Moral Judgment and Moral Politics |
| | Moral Judgment and the Social Intuitionist Model - Jonathan Haidt -- Moral Judgment and Moral Politics |
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