Overview

Why can't our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding. His starting point is moral intuition--the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain, and he explains why conservatives can navigate that map more skillfully than can liberals. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures. But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim--that we are fundamentally groupish. It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation.

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Reviews

A landmark contribution to humanity's understanding of itself...Haidt is looking for more than victory. He's looking for wisdom. That's what makes The Righteous Mind well worth reading. -- New York Times Book Review An eye-opening and deceptively ambitious best seller...undoubtedly one of the most talked-about books of the year. -- Wall Street Journal Excellent...An impressive book that should be read by anyone who has the slightest interest in how political opinions are reached. -- Daily Beast Haidt's work feels particularly relevant now...Haidt's perspective can help us better understand our own political and religious leanings. -- San Francisco Chronicle Highly readable, highly insightful...The principal posture in which one envisions him is that of a scrappy, voluble, discerning patriot standing between the warring factions in American politics urging each to see the other's viewpoint, to stop demonizing, bashing, clobbering...Haidt's real contribution, in my judgment, is inviting us all to sit at the table. -- Washington Times Ingenious prose...Beautifully written, Haidt's book shines a new and creative light on moral psychology and presents a provocative message. -- Science Splendidly written, sophisticated and stimulating. It may well change how you think and talk about politics, religion, and human nature. -- NPR

"""A landmark contribution to humanity's understanding of itself...Haidt is looking for more than victory. He's looking for wisdom. That's what makes The Righteous Mind well worth reading."" -- ""New York Times Book Review"" ""An eye-opening and deceptively ambitious best seller...undoubtedly one of the most talked-about books of the year."" -- ""Wall Street Journal"" ""Excellent...An impressive book that should be read by anyone who has the slightest interest in how political opinions are reached."" -- ""Daily Beast"" ""Haidt's work feels particularly relevant now...Haidt's perspective can help us better understand our own political and religious leanings."" -- ""San Francisco Chronicle"" ""Highly readable, highly insightful...The principal posture in which one envisions him is that of a scrappy, voluble, discerning patriot standing between the warring factions in American politics urging each to see the other's viewpoint, to stop demonizing, bashing, clobbering...Haidt's real contribution, in my judgment, is inviting us all to sit at the table."" -- ""Washington Times"" ""Ingenious prose...Beautifully written, Haidt's book shines a new and creative light on moral psychology and presents a provocative message."" -- ""Science"" ""Splendidly written, sophisticated and stimulating. It may well change how you think and talk about politics, religion, and human nature."" -- ""NPR"""

Author Information

"Jonathan Haidt is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Righteous Mind and one of the most cited intellectuals in the media. A professor at New York Univerisity's Stern School of Business, Haidt is also the founder of Heterodox Academy, an organization of some of the nation's most respected professors that is committed to viewpoint diversity in higher education. He has been named a ""top global thinker"" by Foreign Policy magazine. Jonathan Haidt is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Righteous Mind and one of the most cited intellectuals in the media. A professor at New York Univerisity's Stern School of Business, Haidt is also the founder of Heterodox Academy, an organization of some of the nation's most respected professors that is committed to viewpoint diversity in higher education. He has been named a ""top global thinker"" by Foreign Policy magazine."

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