The Independent Whig
Moral Foundations Theory
Human History Explained in Ten Statements
This is first attempt at communicating an idea I’ve been kicking around for a while. It has finally formed clearly enough out of a cloud of thoughts for me to write it down. With time I may refine or enhance it, expand or contract it, or morph it into something else. For the moment, here’s what I’m … Continue reading
Jonathan Haidt’s Metaphors Sacrifice Completeness and Accuracy in Favor of Parsimony and Ideology, Part II: Taste Buds
This is Part II of a two-part essay in which I attempt to make the case that several of the metaphors Jonathan Haidt uses to help convey the lessons of his study of morality do more harm than good to his Moral Foundations Theory (MFT), to our understanding of the partisan divide, and potentially to … Continue reading
Jonathan Haidt’s Metaphors Sacrifice Completeness and Accuracy in Favor of Parsimony and Ideology, Part I: Yin/Yang
Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) and the science behind it are solid and defensible. They will become ever more so as he continues to refine and enhance it via the scientific community’s process of peer review and criticism. I’m a huge fan. It’s because I’m a fan that I’m disappointed in the metaphors he’s … Continue reading
Is “Groupthink” Evidence of Another Moral Foundation?
The Evils of Groupthink and Sound Bites, by Steve Tobak on FoxBusiness.com today resonates with Haidt’s idea of “groupishness.” Interestingly (to me), our tendency toward the herd mentality of groupthink does not seem to be about morality, per se, or about the fact that “morality binds and blinds,” as Haidt’s third principle of moral psychology contends. … Continue reading
Some of Haidt’s Metaphors Contradict His Findings
[Note:This post was edited on 3/30/13 to include the sentence in bold font.] This post is critical of select portions of Jonathan Haidt’s work so I want to make it clear at the outset that I think his approach, research, findings, and interpretations of those findings in the academic sense are right on the money. … Continue reading
How To Better Articulate Conservatism (and Liberalism too)
As he began his tenure as president of The Heritage Foundation Jim DeMint said that “Conservatives need to better articulate their message if they are to prevail in the war of ideas.” (1) In The Washington Post he wrote, “Conservative policies have proved their worth time and time again. If we’re not communicating in a … Continue reading
Yes, I Am “Judgmental”: An Overview of the Position of The Independent Whig
JSWagner, a reader of this blog, made a fair and well reasoned comment to the post in which I observed that Opennes Is Not A Moral Foundation. He said that I can be judgmental, and that there’s sometimes a negative tone to my writing about ideas I don’t agree with. He said that I “castigated” … Continue reading
“The Righteous Mind” is a Fun Read and a Valuable Tool for Conservatives
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, by Jonathan Haidt, is a fun read for conservatives because it pokes more holes in liberalism than it does in conservatism. In that sense, some parts of this book are quite delicious. But we conservatives are not without faults of our own, which … Continue reading
An Interpretation of Moral Foundations Theory: Introduction and Table of Contents
This post is an Introduction and Table of Contents (scroll down a little) for a series of posts. Each post in the series stands on its own, but together they form an alternate interpretation of Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory. I live in the six-foundation moral matrix. In other words, I am conservative. Haidt grew up in the three-foundation … Continue reading
Overview: Moral Foundations Theory Explains Much More Than Just The Political Divide
Social scientist Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory does not go far enough. Haidt suggests that moral foundations are a set of intuitions about human behavior and social interaction embedded in each of us by natural selection, and that the political divide can be traced to the different ways liberals and conservatives apply the foundations to … Continue reading
I Support Viewpoint Diversity
A politically diverse group of social scientists, natural scientists, humanists, and other scholars who want to improve our academic disciplines and universities. We share a concern about a growing problem: the loss or lack of “viewpoint diversity.” When nearly everyone in a field shares the same political orientation, certain ideas become orthodoxy, dissent is discouraged, and errors can go unchallenged.
Venn Diagram of Liberal and Conservative Traits and Moral Foundations and
The Independent Whig 