Abstract

Smell is a moral indicator in our societies. Mingling with the other senses, it is essential in our social relationships. It is often a measure of the quality of our attention to others. It conditions love and hatred, often in a purely fantastical way. It is at the heart of racism. A person who smells ‘bad’ is necessarily ‘bad’ unlike a person who smells ‘good’. In this chapter, grounding on a number of philosophical, anthropological and sociological sources, I will show how smell and odours have shape cultural identity, social relationships and moral values in both Western and Eastern world. Moreover, I will provide examples of how different languages verbalize odours, highlighting the moral prejudices that might affect olfactory world with respect to alleged superior senses, such as vision and audition. Interestingly, although olfaction results to be one of the less categorized senses, it is often recognized as among the most effective, robust, and powerful tools for knowing the eternal world, allowing humans to establish a solid connection with the material and spiritual world.