The Righteous Mind
by Jonathan Haidt
Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
31%
Critic Reviews: 19
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- User rating from iDreamBooks & iTunes
Reader Rating
83%
Reader Ratings: 356
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Synopsis
Why can't our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding. His starting point is moral intuition-the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions... more
About Jonathan Haidt
Published: March 13, 2012 by Random House
Genre: Political & Social Sciences, Religion & Spirituality. Non-fiction. 448 pages
Critic Reviews for The Righteous Mind : Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
Add Critic Review- All Critics: 19
- Positive: 7
- Negative: 12
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The New York Times | 23 Mar 2012
Haidt’s account of reason is a bit too simple — his whole book, after all, is a deployment of reason to advance learning — and his advice sounds cynical.
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History News Network | 24 Mar 2012
As his tower gets higher, one nevertheless becomes increasingly aware of its wobbliness: scientific findings -- especially social science findings -- are changing all the time; one generation's insight becomes the next generation's fallacy.
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The Humanist
I am sure that Haidt does not expect Barack Obama to alter his ideals in order to appease a horde of God-bothering bible-bashers, but try as I might I could not see where else his line of thought could lead.
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Huffington Post | 10 Apr 2012
I part company over the fact that all of this sounds too rational, the very thing of which Haidt is so critical.
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The Guardian | 14 Mar 2012
His hints at practical reform are equally unconvincing.
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The Globe and Mail | 6 Apr 2012
This is a troubling thought, and Haidt is not always convincing in explaining it.
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The Rational Optimist | 28 Mar 2012
While I found Haidt’s analysis very enlightening, I was somewhat disappointed that after establishing his premises so well, he didn’t spend much time applying them concretely to current American political and religious divisions, and hardly even tried to offer serious solutions.
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OpEdNews | 22 Mar 2012
But nowhere in his book does Haidt give any indication of understanding, or even knowing about, the centuries-old Catholic tradition of "natural law" moral theory.
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The Daily Beast | 9 Apr 2012
Haidt's The Righteous Mind is an impressive book that should be read by anyone who has the slightest interest in how political opinions are reached
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The Mockingbird | 28 Mar 2012
And while his defense of religion itself is pretty limp–clue: it has to do with community-building–we should nonetheless take what we can get.
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Scientific American | 3 Feb 2012
Though at times highly philosophical, Haidt’s book is a must-read if you want to understand how conflicts arise—and how we might prevent them.
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Acton Institute | 21 Mar 2012
In one sense Haidt is not saying anything that religious leaders and economists haven’t been saying for centuries, namely, that at the root of our understanding of politics are fundamental beliefs about human nature and definitions of morality.
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Kirkus Reviews | 1 Mar 2012
A well-informed tour of contemporary moral psychology.
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Publishers Weekly | 12 Mar 2012
In his two most insightful chapters, Haidt explains why conservatives have a wider moral foundation and thus, an inherent advantage in politics, and later outlines the necessities of both liberal and conservative moral systems, arguing that the two provide necessary counterbalances to one another.
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NPR | 1 Mar 2012
His book can provide a pause that refreshes righteous minds, giving them a moment and a method to empathize across a moral divide.
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The Globe and Mail | 6 Apr 2012
...The Righteous Mind, which should come with a warning label: “contents highly addictive.”
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The New York Times | 23 Mar 2012
Haidt’s faith in moral taste receptors may not survive this scrutiny. Our taste for sanctity or authority, like our taste for sugar, could turn out to be a dangerous relic.
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The Guardian | 21 Apr 2012
What makes the book so compelling is the fluid combination of erudition and entertainment, and the author's obvious pleasure in challenging conventional wisdom.
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The Wall Street Journal | 18 Mar 2012
Mr. Haidt's approach has the added virtue of encouraging a degree of humility in righteous, partisan minds of every stripe.
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