The Other-Condemning Moral Emotions - A Modal Logic Approach

Abstract

We propose a formal specification of the elicitation conditions and prototypical coping strategies for three of the moral emotions: anger, contempt and disgust. We utilize existing psychological theories -- appraisal theories of emotion and the CAD triad hypothesis -- and incorporate them into a modal logical framework. Key features of the approach, such as its dynamic and epistemic natures, allow for modeling qualitative, quantitative and dynamic aspects of the moral emotions. We show that successful conceptualization is not only possible, but can shed light on the rationality behind moral emotions, as well as their importance to maintaining social norms and building socially aware agents.