The Independent Whig
The Moral Foundations
Liberal Hegemony in Academia “No Platforms” Truths of Human Nature and Thereby Exacerbates Partisan Discord
Articles like The Big Uneasy, the interview of Timothy Garton Ash, and many others highlighted by Heterodox Academy as these were, or written by its members, remind me of the fable of the blind men and the elephant, in which each blind man touched a different part of the elephant and concluded he had encountered a … Continue reading
Are Moral Foundations Named Incorrectly, Leading to Misunderstanding?
I’m just thinking out loud here, but based on reactions to Moral Foundations from many liberals I can’t help but wonder sometimes if all of the foundations are properly named. I think Haidt’s choice of words for some of the foundations may be unfortunate because they’re potentially off-putting to liberals when they needn’t be. They’re loaded … 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
The Moral Foundations
For convenience, a short description of each Moral Foundation is offered here, making heavy use of text from Haidt’s web site, http://www.moralfoundations.org, along with a portion of a transcript I typed while watching this video of one of Haidt’s talks (carefully, hitting “pause” and “rewind” many, many times) . All such text is in italics, … Continue reading
The Moral Foundations
Many of the ideas presented at The Independent Whig are built upon Moral Foundations Theory, developed by Dr. Jonathan Haidt, Professor of Psychology, at the University of Virginia. For convenience, a discription of each Moral Foundation is offered here, making heavy use of text from Haidt’s web site, http://www.moralfoundations.org, along with a portion of a … 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 