Hard Feelings: The Moral Psychology of Contempt

Contempt appears to be making something of a comeback in public discourse. The 2016 US Presidential Elections saw both mainstream candidates accused of contempt. Hillary Clinton and her supporters were claimed by Republicans to be contemptuous of ‘ordinary Americans’. Donald Trump, on the other hand, was seen by many to be treating the entire political process and state apparatus with contempt. Is it good to feel contempt towards others? Not according to the general view to be found in the opinion pieces decrying the rise of contempt among one or another set of political actors. Nor according to many of the moral philosophers who have addressed the question. An illustrious list of philosophers including Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes and Immanuel Kant have all expressed their concerns about contempt. Contempt has even been claimed to be at the heart of racist and sexist oppression. Bucking this trend, Macalester Bell's Hard Feelings argues in favour of contempt and explains the situations in which it is a morally valuable emotion.