5 pillars of morality

xIyXG4

Analysis

Although this theory may shed some valuable light on the differences between liberals and conservatives, it seems inconsistent with easily-observable facts.

Consider:

• Liberals are generally far more concerned about purity of environmental conditions than are conservatives. Food is a good example: filtered water, organic foods, avoidance of over-processing, and avoidance of synthetic ingredients in food are all very much liberal causes, ignored or even disparaged by conservatives.
• Liberals are every bit as loyal to their in-groups (friends), although their criteria for forming those groups may be different from those used by conservatives; conservatives seem to form loyal relationships based on established institutions (marriage, church, the workplace), while liberals are more focused on personal empathy
• Liberals often display immense respect (bordering on worship) of certain individuals, but the processes by which they choose which individuals to favor thusly are probably somewhat different from the processes used by conservatives. At a guess: conservatives seem to give respect, or deem individuals worthy of authority, based solely on position within a strict hierarchy; liberals tend to be more willing to independently evaluate individuals for their contribution to society, regardless (indeed, often in spite) of hierarchical position.

Possibly Haidt is simply using excessively narrow definitions of the last three "pillars"; some exploration of the questions Haidt uses for evaluating each individual's ranking of the five "pillars" is needed.

Related Pages

• The 5 pillars of morality is a theory about human nature, morality, and ethics.

Links

Official

• Moral Foundations Theory Homepage
  • YourMorals.org: test yourself

Video

• Morality: 2012 (video) Adds Haidt's "atom world" vs. "lattice world" theory, which seems similarly flawed in its conclusions; as David Brin points out: "Recall Hillary Clinton's book It Takes a Village (to raise a child)? That seems to be a "lattice world" statement and the right wing response "No, it takes parents!" was resoundingly atomistic."