Horribly Wrong

Moral horror is an extreme emotional response to that which violates things we regard as sacred. In Robert Merrihew Adams's view, horror is a response to badness and not to wrongness, and so one could properly regard some actions as horrible but not wrong. In contrast, I argue that horror, when...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bush, Stephen S. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2013
In: Journal of religious ethics
Year: 2013, Volume: 41, Issue: 4, Pages: 585-600
Further subjects:B Killing
B Disgust
B Robert Merrihew Adams
B Sacred
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Summary:Moral horror is an extreme emotional response to that which violates things we regard as sacred. In Robert Merrihew Adams's view, horror is a response to badness and not to wrongness, and so one could properly regard some actions as horrible but not wrong. In contrast, I argue that horror, when directed toward actions, is only appropriate for wrong actions. The reason is that horror involves moral disgust, and agents who committed a horrible action would have self-disgust, that is, they would be repulsive to themselves. I argue, with reference to killing in combat and in self-defense, that those who have done no wrong should not be in such a state.
ISSN:1467-9795
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religious ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jore.12033