Publisher's Synopsis
In The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, published in 2012, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt presents a new way to understand the often-contentious moral divides in politics and religion. Haidt looks at the topic in three separate parts. First, he works to give a clearer picture of how the mind works. Secondly, he presents a framework for understanding the different moral values that emerge between different cultures and political parties. Finally, he suggests some advantages to being part of a group as well as some noteworthy limitations. He ends with a call for civil debate that factors in different moral matrices and a better understanding of how moral minds work.Haidt's understanding of the mind runs counter to the typical rationalist beliefs of Western philosophy. He asserts that emotion and intuition carry far more weight in our judgments than reason does. He creates the metaphor of the moral mind, one that makes judgments instantly based on feelings and bodily sensations, as the elephant. The elephant is in control, though it is steered by the rider, which is the rational mind. The rider also has the job of acting as a press secretary, explaining the presidential verdicts of the elephant. Reason is not the slave of emotion in Haidt's view, but it is certainly secondary. It is difficult to change anyone's mind, including our own, unless we talk to the elephant...
