Summary
Haidt argues that morality is an emergent property from the neurological equivalent of taste buds and that different types of people have different tastes. He also makes the case that our moral judgements are gut feelings justified by post hoc rationalizations. Haidt also takes a dualistic approach to mind, comparing it to an elephant with a rider. The elephant represents inarticulate passions while the rider represents the part of the brain that reasons. From here he uses the divide between liberal (using the American definition meaning those on the left side of politics) and conservative to highlight the different moral taste buds that each political party activates.
Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book. I am biased towards any literature that seeks to find reason on both sides of polarizing issues. It did a fantastic job at explaining why certain groups of people take certain offenses more seriously than others. One of my complaints about the book, however, was that not many solutions were proposed for bridging the gap between these opposing moral feelings. How are we to solve debates between people living in separate moral universes? I found his explanations intuitive and instantly relatable. It is a great read for anyone who is interested in understanding someone with a completely different worldview, and please for the love of beauty, be that kind of person.