Disgust

Disgust is often assumed to be biological, but in what ways do cultural norms and personal preferences influence what disgusts us?  Can we shape what we’re disgusted by over time? Ellie and David explore how disgust colors our interactions with food, art, and even sex, in episode 38. Given how disgust has helped enforce racism and homophobia, does it have any place in morality? And how does modern art's use of excrement, vomit, and blood change how we think about aesthetics?

Works Discussed

• Sianne Ngai, Ugly Feelings
• Charles Darwin, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals
• John Garcia, Donald J. Kimeldorf, and Robert A. Koelling, "Conditioned aversion to saccharin resulting from exposure to gamma radiation"
• Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
• Georges Bataille, Documents
• Georges Bataille, L’érotisme
• Downton Abbey, S3 E7
• Immanuel Kant, Critique of Judgement
• Christopher Ofili, The Holy Virgin Mary
• Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection

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