A educabilidade da compaixão e do nojo na constituição do ethos em Martha Nussbaum

Abstract

Emotions play a central role in human experience and are therefore inseparable from the subjective and constitutive processes of individual development. Based on this premise, the research problem is guided by the following question: what are the contributions of compassion and disgust to the constitution of ethos from a Nussbaumian perspective? The general objective is to analyze, in light of Martha Nussbaum’s theory of emotions, the contributions of compassion and disgust to the formation of subjects’ ethos. This is a theoretical and bibliographic study with a hermeneutic approach, whose main sources are works by Martha Nussbaum, namely Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions, Hiding from Humanity, and Not for Profit. In terms of structure, the first chapter addresses emotions in Nussbaum’s thought, with emphasis on the cognitive-evaluative theory, projective disgust, and primitive shame, highlighting how these emotions may be linked to exclusionary and oppressive behaviors. The second chapter focuses on compassion, an emotion that brings individuals closer to others who experience deep suffering. The third chapter examines the relationship between compassion and disgust, indicating possible contributions arising from the understanding and engagement with these emotions in the constitution and formation of the subject, both personally and socially. Finally, the results of this study indicate that the teaching of compassion can be structured around three interdependent spheres: the school context; knowledge of how different cultures operate; and pedagogical mediation through the arts and literature. Articulated together, these elements enhance the educability of compassion by contributing to the overcoming of exclusionary and oppressive behaviors, as well as narcissistic expressions that seek to control and deny the vulnerabilities inherent to the human condition. The educability of emotions, with compassion and disgust as reference points, incorporates issues related to the formative constitution of the subject and, therefore, may constitute structuring axes for the formation of ethos, understood as an ethical and effective foundation for both formal education and humanization and social coexistence.