Jon Miltimore in
FEE writes about social psychologist Jonathan Haidt's
attempts to understand and explain human morality and, in particular...
"...the five primary categories that serve as our moral foundation:
- Care/harm ~ an ability to feel (and dislike) the pain of others; underlies virtues of kindness, gentleness, and nurturance.
- Fairness/reciprocity ~ the evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism; generates ideas of justice, rights, and autonomy.
- Loyalty/betrayal ~ ability to form shifting coalitions; underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group.
- Authority/subversion ~ hierarchical social interactions; underlies virtues of leadership and followership, legitimate authority and traditions.
- Sanctity/degradation ~ psychology of disgust and contamination; underlies religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, more noble way."
"What Haidt found is that both conservatives and liberals recognize the Harm/Care and Fairness/Reciprocity values. Liberal-minded people, however, tend to reject the three remaining foundational values -- Loyalty/betrayal, Authority/subversion, and Sanctity/degradation -- while conservatives accept them. It’s an extraordinary difference, and it helps explain why many liberals and conservatives in America think “the other side” is bonkers."
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