Did Kant suffer from misophonia?

Abstract

Misophonia is a disorder of decreased tolerance to specific sounds, often produced by humans but not always, which can trigger intense emotional reactions (anger, disgust etc.). This relatively prevalent disorder can cause a reduction in the quality of life. The causes of misophonia are still unclear. In this article, we develop a hypothesis suggesting that misophonia can be caused by a failure in the organization of the perceived world. The perceived world is the result of both the structure of human thought and the many conditioning factors that punctuate human life, particularly social conditioning. It is made up of abstract symbols that map the world and help humans to orient himself in a potentially dangerous environment. In this context, the role of social rules acquired throughout life is considerable. Table manners, for example, are a set of deeply regulated and controlled behaviors (it’s considered impolite to eat with the mouth open and to make noise while eating), which contribute to shape the way the perceived world is organized. So it’s not surprising to find sounds from the mouth (chewing etc.) among the most common misophonic sound triggers. Politeness can be seen as an act of obedience to moral rules or courtesy, which is a prerequisite for peaceful social relations. Beyond this example, we also argue that any sound can become a misophonic trigger as long as it is not integrated into the perceived ordered and harmonious world, because it is considered an “anomaly,” i.e., a disorder, an immorality or a vulgarity.

Beyond sound irritation: cross-cultural evidence on the robustness of the five aspects of misophonic experience measured by the S-Five in a Polish sample

“…While formal statistical comparisons were not used to examine these differences in this study, they contribute to the understanding of externalizing appraisals as relatively common responses to unpleasant sounds in the general population, and they may not be as useful as other factors in distinguishing misophonic responses from a general negative reaction to sounds. These outcomes also challenge the hypothesis (see for instance Norena, 2024) that misophonia is a result of negative attitudes towards certain behaviors or high moral standards, or a so-called 'mental' disorder, rooted in maladaptive beliefs. Nonetheless, such beliefs may probably intensify emotional reactions in misophonia.…”

A social cognition perspective on misophonia

“…While this model in its latest iteration does highlight that the emotional reaction in misophonia depends on the context-for example, a sound from a particular person may be a trigger in one place but not in another situation or place-the sound itself remains the most important component in driving the emotional reaction. Framing misophonia in a sociological context, a recent article by Noreña [13] does not focus on the sound per se and argues for a specific role of social conditioning and conformity in driving the existence of misophonia [13], relating the condition to expected social norms. However, thus far, no models of misophonia have considered how the neural processes related to social cognition may play a critical role.…”