{"id":8111,"date":"2007-09-20T09:37:00","date_gmt":"2007-09-20T14:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2007\/09\/20\/how-do-your-morals-affect-your-pol"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:53:42","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:53:42","slug":"how-do-your-morals-affect-your-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2007\/09\/20\/how-do-your-morals-affect-your-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"how do Your Morals affect Your Politics?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 I<\/em><\/strong>n an attempt to be a good citizen, I had planned to spend some serious time yesterday learning about the recently-released Hillary Clinton health care proposal<\/a> and how it compares with those of other presidential candidates. [Starting with discussion by Washington Post <\/em>columnist Steven Pearlstein, “A Healthy Dose of Hillary<\/a>” and by David Brooks at the New York Times<\/em>, “Hillary Clinton, From Revolution to Evolution<\/a>” (Sept. 19, 2007).] I was even going to delve into the very useful Public Agenda<\/em> Health Care Issue Guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I quickly found myself in agreement with Pearlstein’s conclusion<\/a> in WaPo<\/em> that:<\/p>\n

“The rap on Hillary Clinton — the reason even Democrats haven’t warmed to her — is that everything she does seems driven by political calculation. Now with a well-crafted proposal on a signature issue, Clinton has the opportunity to prove that she can also be the leader who is willing to tell voters the hard truths they have suspected all along but don’t want to confront.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But, alas (and, definitely, alack), both my flesh and spirit were weak, and I was rather easily led astray, when tempted by a subject that is simply a lot more interesting to my curious and optimistically-skeptical brain: Is \u2018Do Unto Others\u2019 Written Into Our Genes?<\/a> (New York Times<\/em>, by Nicholas Wade, Sept. 18, 2007) The NYT<\/em> article focuses on the work of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt<\/a> of the University of Virginia, a proponent of positive psychology<\/a>, and author of “The Happiness Hypothesis<\/a>: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom<\/em>” (“a book about how to construct a life of virtue, happiness, fulfillment, and meaning.”). Haidt (pronouced like “height”) “has been constructing a broad evolutionary view of morality that traces its connections both to religion and to politics.” Looking at situations that cause almost universal disgust in human beings, Haidt became interested in the phenomenon of moral dumbfounding<\/em> \u2014 “when people feel strongly that something is wrong but cannot explain why.”<\/p>\n

“Dumbfounding<\/em> led him to view morality as driven by two separate mental systems, one ancient and one modern, though the mind is scarcely aware of the difference. The ancient system, which he calls moral intuition, is based on the emotion-laden moral behaviors that evolved before the development of language. The modern system \u2014 he calls it moral judgment \u2014 came after language, when people became able to articulate why something was right or wrong.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to the NYT<\/em> Article, “Dr. Haidt combed the literature of anthropology and psychology for ideas about morality throughout the world. He identified five components of morality that were common to most cultures. Some concerned the protection of individuals<\/em>, others the ties that bind a group together<\/em>.” (emphasis added)<\/p>\n

“Of the moral systems that protect individuals, one is concerned with preventing harm to the person and the other with reciprocity and fairness. Less familiar are the three systems that promote behaviors developed for strengthening the group. These are loyalty to the in-group, respect for authority and hierarchy, and a sense of purity or sanctity.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of particular interest to political pundits and junkies, “Dr. Haidt has detected a striking political dimension to morality.” Working with grad student Jesse Graham, he found that self-proclaimed:<\/p>\n