ABSTRACT
Like its near-synonym outrage, indignation is a form of anger based on perceived immorality or unfairness. Because it tends to identify a perpetrator to blame, it encourages action and is a core emotion of protest. Many activists try to arouse it in their audiences, partly because it feels good to express and even better to act upon. Indignation sets up a moral battery, a contrast between right and wrong that indicates a direction in which we should try to move, from injustice to restitution. In many cases indignation causes us to articulate our moral principles that were hitherto mere intuitions. To illustrate aspects of indignation we use recent US protests over the murder of George Floyd.
