My Question for Jonathan Haidt
Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:52 pm
I thought I'd email a question to Jonathan Haidt and see if he would respond. Here was my question:
Hello Mr. Haidt,
Sorry to see that you've left the state of Virginia, but hope you're happy with your move.
A few of us are discussing your first book on booktalk.org, and I've had a question I've wanted to ask you, having also read The Righteous Mind.
When you were doing your research in moral foundations, did you and your team ever consider something like rationality as a variety of moral emotion that might form one leg of another foundation? The word might not be the right one, but it comes up from all the discussion I've seen about religious belief. Frequently, the main objection to religion (almost always Christianity) is that the beliefs are irrational. The way this aversion is expressed seems to have a definite moral flavor; in fact the impression conveyed is that non-rationality is a sin. It doesn't have a pleasing effect on the moral taste buds.
Have enjoyed your work very much and seeing you at TED X MidAtlantic.
Sincerely,
Bill Daniels
Berryville, Virginia
He did respond, with the following:
hello Bill,
glad to hear that my work sparked these questions.
I do get questions about rationality every now and then. Each side thinks its views are based on reason, or reality.
its true that christians value faith, and atheists don't. but i don't think either of these qualify as a foundaiton. I'm attaching a paper which discusses, near the end, what it takes to be a foundation. There are many things that matter for moral judgment which are not foundations. Diversity, honor, theory of mind, rationality, fear...
best,
jon
Oh, well, it was worth a try. I haven't had a chance to read the article he attached. It was good of him to take the time to reply.
Hello Mr. Haidt,
Sorry to see that you've left the state of Virginia, but hope you're happy with your move.
A few of us are discussing your first book on booktalk.org, and I've had a question I've wanted to ask you, having also read The Righteous Mind.
When you were doing your research in moral foundations, did you and your team ever consider something like rationality as a variety of moral emotion that might form one leg of another foundation? The word might not be the right one, but it comes up from all the discussion I've seen about religious belief. Frequently, the main objection to religion (almost always Christianity) is that the beliefs are irrational. The way this aversion is expressed seems to have a definite moral flavor; in fact the impression conveyed is that non-rationality is a sin. It doesn't have a pleasing effect on the moral taste buds.
Have enjoyed your work very much and seeing you at TED X MidAtlantic.
Sincerely,
Bill Daniels
Berryville, Virginia
He did respond, with the following:
hello Bill,
glad to hear that my work sparked these questions.
I do get questions about rationality every now and then. Each side thinks its views are based on reason, or reality.
its true that christians value faith, and atheists don't. but i don't think either of these qualify as a foundaiton. I'm attaching a paper which discusses, near the end, what it takes to be a foundation. There are many things that matter for moral judgment which are not foundations. Diversity, honor, theory of mind, rationality, fear...
best,
jon
Oh, well, it was worth a try. I haven't had a chance to read the article he attached. It was good of him to take the time to reply.