Daniel Kelly (sociologist)

Daniel Kelly is an American sociologist known for his research on morality, disgust, and political psychology. He is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at Purdue University.

Kelly's work explores the psychological foundations of moral judgment, examining how emotions, particularly disgust, influence moral evaluations. He has published extensively on the role of disgust in political polarization and the moralization of food. His research often employs an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from evolutionary psychology, cognitive science, and philosophy.

Key themes in his work include:

• Moral Disgust: Kelly has argued that disgust, initially evolved for pathogen avoidance, has been co-opted and repurposed to play a significant role in moral reasoning and judgment. He examines how disgust can influence moral attitudes toward outgroups and controversial social issues.

• Moralization of Food: He has explored how food choices become imbued with moral significance, examining phenomena like vegetarianism and veganism as manifestations of moral commitments.

• Political Polarization: Kelly investigates how disgust and other emotional responses contribute to political divisions and the perception of ideological opponents as morally repugnant.

His publications have appeared in journals such as Cognition, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Behavioral and Brain Sciences. He is the author of Yuck!: The Nature and Moral Significance of Disgust (MIT Press).