The Righteous Mind

In the first part of the book, Jonathan Haidt uses cross-sectional research to demonstrate social intuitionism, how people's beliefs come primarily from their intuitions, and rational thought often comes after to justify initial beliefs. He cites David Hume and E. O. Wilson as thinkers who gave reason a relatively low estimation, as opposed to more popular thinkers who give reason a central place in moral cognition, such as Lawrence Kohlberg and his stages of moral reasoning.

In the second portion of the book, he presents moral foundations theory, and applies it to the political beliefs of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians in the US. Haidt argues that people are too quick to denigrate other points of view without giving those views full consideration, and attempts to reach common ground between liberals and conservatives. He makes the case in the book for morality having multiple foundations (more than just harm and fairness), and said in an interview that morality "is at least six things, and probably a lot more than that"{{cite web|title= Jonathan Haidt – The Righteous Mind|url= https://pointofinquiry.org/2012/03/jonathan_haidt_the_righteous_mind/ |website=Point of Inquiry |publisher= Center for Inquiry|accessdate=2 January 2023|format= MP3 | type = podcast |date= 19 March 2012}}{{rp |8:55}} and "[religion and politics are] ... expressions of our tribal, groupish, righteous nature."{{rp|13:06}} In his book, he compares the six aspects that people use to establish morality and take into consideration when making judgment to six taste receptors in the mouth. These aspects of morality are defined as care/harm, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, sanctity/degradation, and liberty/oppression.{{Cite web |date=2016-12-19 |title=How Jonathan Haidt's 6 Moral Tastebuds Can Heal a Divided World |url=https://www.highexistence.com/how-jonathan-haidts-6-moral-tastebuds-can-heal-a-divided-world/ |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=HighExistence {{!}} Explore Life's Deepest Questions |language=en}} He goes on to establish that Republicans and Democrats tend to focus on different morality receptors and this leads to worse political tactics and decision making. Haidt himself acknowledges that while he has been a liberal all his life,{{Cite web | url= http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2014/01/jonathan_haidt.html | work = Econtalk | title=Jonathan Haidt on the Righteous Mind}} he is now more open to other points of view.{{cite web | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/books/review/the-righteous-mind-by-jonathan-haidt.html | title= Why Won't They Listen? 'The Righteous Mind,' by Jonathan Haidt | work = The New York Times | date= March 23, 2012 | accessdate=14 February 2014 | last= Saletan|first=William |author-link=William Saletan}}

In the third part of the book, Haidt describes a hypothetical "hive switch", which turns a selfish human "chimp" into a "groupish" human "bee". He describes how cultures and organizations have techniques for getting people to identify with their groups, such as dancing, moving, and singing in unison.

• Rationalist delusion: One of the key metaphors of the book is the "Mouse and the Elephant", meant to describe the role of the rational mind in explaining/defending the unconscious mind's decision. The unconscious mind's elephant in fact determines the direction, but the rational mind's mouse thinks it is in charge, and develops explanations for the decision that it has not made.
• Social intuitionism
• Moral foundations theory
• Jean Piaget and developmental psychology
• Moral development and works by:
• Lawrence Kohlberg
• Elliot Turiel
• Richard Shweder on cultural anthropology
• Humean philosophy
• Platonic philosophy
• Glaucon and the Ring of Gyges
• Steven Pinker on human nature (The Blank Slate)
• E.O. Wilson:
• Consilience
• Sociobiology: The New Synthesis
• Antonio Damasio and Descartes' Error
• Howard Margolis on psychology
• Philip E. Tetlock on accountability
• Dan Ariely on Predictably Irrational
• Dan P. McAdams on personalities
• Émile Durkheim on sociology
• Charles Darwin on group selection
• Religion
• critiques by Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett
• David Sloan Wilson and Darwin's Cathedral
• Barbara Ehrenreich and Dancing in the Streets

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The book was #6 on The New York Times Best Seller list for non-fiction in April 2012.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2012-04-01/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html | title=Best Sellers | newspaper=The New York Times | date=1 April 2012 | accessdate=15 February 2014}}

William Saletan wrote in The New York Times in 2012 that the book is "a landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself".

The book received two reviews in The Guardian: in 2012, Ian Birrell called the book a "compelling study of the morality of those on the left and right [that] reaches some surprising conclusions";{{cite news |last1=Birrell |first1=Ian |title=The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/22/righteous-mind-jonathan-haidt-review |accessdate=19 May 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=22 April 2012}} and in 2013 Nicholas Lezard wrote that he was "in the odd position of being wary of a book I am also recommending. It's entertaining, snappily written and thought-provoking. It might even help Labour win the next election. But it still doesn't explain the gang running the country at the moment [the UK Conservative Party]."{{cite news |last1=Lezard |first1=Nicholas |title=The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/07/righteous-mind-jonathan-haidt-review |accessdate=19 May 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=7 May 2013}}

Journalist Chris Hedges wrote a review of The Righteous Mind in 2012 in which he accused Haidt of supporting social Darwinism.{{Cite web |url=http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/page3/the_righteous_road_to_ruin_20120628/ |title=The Righteous Road to Ruin |last=Hedges |first=Chris |date=28 June 2012 |website=Truthdig |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109051434/http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/the_righteous_road_to_ruin_20120628 |archive-date=November 9, 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=2019-07-19 |df=mdy-all}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Blum |first1=Lawrence |title=Political identity and moral education: A response to Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind |journal=Journal of Moral Education |date=September 2013 |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=298–315 |doi=10.1080/03057240.2013.817331|s2cid=143148783 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Guthrie |first1=Clifton F. |title=The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt |journal=Teaching Ethics |date=2013 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=167–170 |doi=10.5840/tej201313212}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Jost |first1=John T. |author1-link=John Jost |title=Left and Right, Right and Wrong The Righteous Mind Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt Pantheon, New York, 2012. 441 pp. $28.95, C$33. ISBN 9780307377906. Allen Lane, London. £20. ISBN 9781846141812. |journal=Science |date=3 August 2012 |volume=337 |issue=6094 |pages=525–526 |doi=10.1126/science.1222565|s2cid=153463108 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=LaFollette |first1=Hugh |last2=Woodruff |first2=Michael L. |title=The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion |journal=Philosophical Psychology |date=13 September 2013 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=452–465 |doi=10.1080/09515089.2013.838752|s2cid=142745897 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Dale E. |title=Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (New York: Pantheon, 2012), pp. xvii + 419. |journal=Utilitas |date=14 January 2014 |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=124–127 |doi=10.1017/S0953820813000253|s2cid=143318822 }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Vaisey |first1=Stephen |title=The Righteous Mind – About Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind |journal=European Journal of Sociology |date=11 January 2013 |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=448–451 |doi=10.1017/S0003975612000422|s2cid=147268530 }}

• Big Five personality traits
• Evolutionary psychology
• Moral psychology
• Moral foundations theory

{{Sister project links|auto=y|d=y}}

• {{Official|https://righteousmind.com}}
• [https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind TED Talk: The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives]

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Category:2012 non-fiction books

Category:Books about evolutionary psychology

Category:Books about the politics of science

Category:Books about social psychology

Category:Books in political philosophy

Category:Contemporary philosophical literature

Category:English-language non-fiction books

Category:Moral psychology books

Category:Pantheon Books books

Category:Political philosophy literature

Category:Political psychology

Category:Works by Jonathan Haidt