Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
by Jonathan Haidt
Drawing on his twenty-five years of groundbreaking research on moral psychology, Jonathan Haidt shows how moral judgments arise not from reason but from gut feelings. He shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and he shows why each side is actually right about many of its central concerns.
If you are not interested in reading the book, he has a TED talk that covers his main points. See:
TED: Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives.
He covers five moral dimensions.
- Harm/care. It is wrong to hurt people; it is good to relieve suffering.
- Fairness/reciprocity. Justice and fairness are good; people have certain rights that need to be upheld in social interactions.
- In-group loyalty. People should be true to their group and be wary of threats from the outside. Allegiance, loyalty and patriotism are virtues; betrayal is bad.
- Authority/respect. People should respect social hierarchy; social order is necessary for human life.
- Purity/sanctity. The body and certain aspects of life are sacred. Cleanliness and health, as well as their derivatives of chastity and piety, are all good. Pollution, contamination and the associated character traits of lust and greed are all bad.
Liberals and conservative people overlap in valuing the first two. But liberals don’t value the last three as much. The last three can strengthen communities, but risk hurting individuals. To start conversations between liberals and conservatives, start talking about the first two morals. And liberals need to acknowledge the last three do have some value.
Publisher: Vintage