|
We are angry when we perceive an injustice, not only to ourselves, but to anyone we respect. We are grateful, and have a sense of obligation, when someone does us a good turn beyond what is owed. We esteem those we perceive as especially good, have contempt for those we perceive as especially bad. We love those who arouse our greatest esteem, hate those who disgust us. If we are angry and discover that the person we blamed is innocent, and another was responsible, we transfer our anger to the guilty party. If we are angry and discover that the harm was less than assumed, our anger eases. On the other hand, if the damage is greater than it had seemed, our anger increases, to a ceiling of rage. The underlying logic is moral. However, inaccuracy may make our emotions appear amoral, as when we show excessive favoritism, and, in any case, as I said, there is a visceral component that frequently runs away with one, as when one loses one's temper and loses perspective on the magnitude of the issue........ |
