Justice, Anger and Wrath

Tracing the Im/Moral Dimensions of Payback

Bibliographic Data

ID3471987
AuthorsCelia E Deane-Drummond, Celia Deane-Drummond (0000-0002-8033-9930, University of Oxford, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume10
Issue10
Pages555
Publication date2019-09-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel10100555
OpenAlexW2975729301
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited24

Martha Nussbaum's Anger and Forgiveness makes explicit claims about the moral valence and irrationality of the desire for payback. This article explores the roots of that desire through an analysis of research on inequity aversion in primates, and the sociocultural developmental context for expressions of anger. It explores the content of different expressions of anger and their relationship to rationality by engaging in the work of Thomas Aquinas. I argue that the desire for payback has biosocial roots in cooperation, and that these habits are prerequisites for the development of human moral sensibilities. However, the explicit desire for payback, like anger in general, is morally ambiguous. Anger may be laudable insofar as it is tied to constructive efforts, but the desire to see another person suffer is in itself morally repugnant. Christian religious interpretations of payback further complicate the narrative, since unappealing instances of this desire are thought by some Christians to be nonetheless justified under the banner of God's wrath

Anger · Epistemology · Irrationality · Narrative · Rationality · Sociology · Emotions and Moral Behavior · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology

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