You have to cultivate disgust, she said. Just like you have to cultivate taste. You need a disgust palate. To distinguish between different kinds of disgust. To know all the varieties of disgust, which is to say different varieties of poison.
Let’s take a moment to savour our disgust. To enjoy its flavours. Let’s meditate upon what it shows us, our disgust. Let’s extend some gratitude to it, our disgust.
Philosophy is nothing but an apprenticeship in disgust, Cicero said. You must start with being disgusted by things closest to you, and then work outwards.
We’re supposed to feel disgust, she said. We need disgust. Because it makes recoil from the world. Which is to say, frees us. Disgust is the beginning of wisdom.
Do you feel it, disgust? she used to ask. Do you know it, disgust? Do you feel disgust at it all, with everything?
Cicero’s joy in disgust. In others, who were disgusted. Who were as disgusted as she was!
Her joy of fellowship in disgust.
Work in Progress 