By Erich Vieth on November 25th, 2008
Jonathan Haidt urges that we escape moral righteousness
In this lecture on TED, Jonathan Haidt discusses his approach, which involves “five foundations of morality.” Haidt also explains that, in our attempts to better understand morality, too many of us are trapped in a non-ending cycle in which “everybody thinks they are right.” We are in need of humility, and the best way to get moral humility is to escape moral righteousness by striving to step out of the struggle. We need to see that liberals and conservatives both have something to offer to the conversation of change versus stability.
I’ve written repeatedly and glowingly about Haidt’s approach to morality. You can find earlier DI posts regarding Haidt’s approach to morality here and here.
“But I’m always right, except for the times that I’m wrong, and even then I’m wrong in the right way”
(oft repeated by a former coworker)