The Righteous Mind
Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
2013 • 500 pages
Ratings51
Average rating4.4
15
Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
Ratings51
Average rating4.4
Presents a groundbreaking investigation into the origins of morality at the core of religion and politics, offering scholarly insight into the motivations behind cultural clashes that are polarizing America.
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This book is expertly crafted, and an excellent primer on many diverse areas of Psychology, Morality and Philosophy.
The thesis of this book is, I think, extremely well supported and carefully explained. After finishing the book - I think you would be hard pressed to find any part of the book that does not present a nuanced view of what is usually a polarising issue.
Moreover I loved that Haidt seemed to genuinely want people to understand the core thesis and engage with it. The little summaries at the end of each section and the end of the book will go a long way in helping me remember the contents for, I hope, many years to come. It made the book feel accessible to a non-academic audience, and I appreciated that Haidt seemed to not be trying to convince Professors of his theory, but just normal people.
This book has been on my list for a while. After reading Blink and Talking to Strangers from Malcom Gladwell, I can say that they are very similar writers and thinkers. I thought Haidt was much more academic which is nice, but at times the book dragged. I was still interested in the topics and kept going. However, I couldn't help but feel that the book was quite dense with information, and at times made me not want to pick it up again.
I gave up on the book when I realised the author's moral framework was based on an old skool view of reason vs emotion. The other thing that psychologists get wrong about the languaged distinction they call “morality” IMO is an implicit assumption in a single universal objective world where the authority to define what is “true” and important is always external to the individual. Presumably this authority exists in their own conceptual frameworks.
Be warned that this book is massive, but so good. For anyone wanting to understand the divisiveness of the current political climate, this is a must read. He does a good job of explaining how we use intellect to justify our preconceived notions, then lays out the moral framework those notions originate from.
For anyone reading certain other reviews, I felt he was respectful and fair throughout the book.
