In the art theory and practice of the last two decades has occurred an "ethical turn" and one of the most important facets of the new ethical discourse of art is the problem of meeting with morally provocative art. In this article, I am referring to one of the elements of morally provocative art - an immoral hero or antihero and his possible influence on the morally motivated actions of the audience. Through a critical description of a number of modern Western philosophical concepts, which focus on the moral, ethical and aesthetic problems of art (including "ethicism" (B. Gaut), "moderate autonomism" (J. Anderson, J. Dean), "moderate moralism "(N. Carroll), moral criticism (D. Jacobson) and "cognitive triviality" (J. Stolnitz)), I suggest to consider the anti-hero as a cognitive concept of art. The article also highlights the value of empathy with an immoral hero for moral cognition, as well as the great potential of empirical research on the impact of anti-heroes on the audience. Since the phenomenon of immoral art heroes is not only the problem of literary criticism or art history but also of social practices, the article uses the results of various studies in the field of cognitive psychology and sociology.