# The righteous mind: Why good people are divided by politics and religion > ## Introduction ## Introduction Introduction > This book is about why it's so hard for us to get along. We are indeed all stuck here for a while, so let's at least do what we can to understand why we are so easily divided into hostile groups, each one certain of its righteousness. Born to be righteous > Our righteous minds made it possible for human beings - but no other animals - to produce large cooperative groups, tribes, and nations without the glue of kinship. But at the same time, our righteous minds guarantee that our cooperative groups will always be cursed by moralistic strife. Some degree of conflict among groups may even be necessary for the health and development of any society. When I was a teenager I wished for world peace, but now I yearn for a world in which competing ideologies are kept in balance, systems of accountability keep us all from getting away with too much, and fewer people believe that righteous ends justify violent means. Not a very romantic wish, but one that we might actually achieve. What lies ahead > (A note on terminology: In the , the word *liberal* refers to progressive or left-wing politics, and I will use the word in this sense. But in and elsewhere, the word *liberal* is truer to its original meaning - valuing liberty above all else, including in economic activities. When Europeans use the word *liberal*, they often mean something more like the American term *libertarian*, which cannot be placed easily on the left-right spectrum. Readers from outside the United States may want to swap in the word *progressive* or *left-wing* whenever I say *liberal*.) ## Part 1. Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second ### Chapter 1. Where does morality come from? Introduction The origin of morality (Take 1) The liberal consensus An easier test Meanwhile, in the rest of the world… The great debate Disgust and disrespect Inventing victims In sum ### Chapter 2. The intuitive dog and its rational tail Introduction Wilson's prophecy The emotional nineties Why atheists won't sell their souls "Seeing-that" vs. "Reasoning-why" The rider and the elephant How to win an argument In sum ### Chapter 3. Elephants rule Introduction Brains evaluate instantly and constantly Social and political judgments are particularly intuitive Our bodies guide our judgments Psychopaths reason but don't feel Babies feel but don't reason Affective reactions are in the right place at the right time in the brain Elephants are sometimes open to reason In sum ### Chapter 4. Vote for me (here's why) Introduction We are all intuitive politicians We are obsessed with polls Our in-house press secretary automatically justifies everything We lie, cheat, and justify so well that we honestly believe we are honest Reasoning (and Google) can take you wherever you want to go We can believe almost anything that supports our team The rationalist delusion In sum ## Part 2. There's more to morality than harm and fairness ### Chapter 5. Beyond WEIRD morality Introduction Three ethics are more descriptive than one How I became a pluralist Stepping out of the matrix In sum ### Chapter 6. Taste buds of the righteous mind Introduction The birth of moral science Attack of the systemizers Bentham and the utilitarian grill Kant and the deontological diner Getting back on track Broadening the palate Moral foundations theory In sum ### Chapter 7. The moral foundations of politics Introduction A note on innateness The care/harm foundation The fairness/cheating foundation The loyalty/betrayal foundation The authority/subversion foundation The sanctity/degradation foundation In sum ### Chapter 8. The conservative advantage Introduction Measuring morals What makes people vote republican? What I had missed The liberty/oppression foundation Fairness as proportionality Three vs. six In sum ## Part 3. Morality binds and blinds ### Chapter 9. Why are we groupish? Introduction Victorious tribes? A fast herd of deer? Exhibit A: Major transitions in evolution Exhibit B: Shared intentionality Exhibit C: Genes and cultures coevolve Exhibit D: Evolution can be fast It's not all about war In sum ### Chapter 10. The hive switch Introduction The hive hypothesis Collective emotions So many ways to flip the switch The biology of the hive switch Hives at work Political hives In sum ### Chapter 11. Religion is a team sport Introduction The lone believer The new atheist story: By-products, then parasites A better story: By-products, then cultural group selection The Durkheimian story: By-products, then maypoles Is god a force for good or evil? Chimps and bees and gods The definition of morality (at last) In sum ### Chapter 12. Can't we all disagree more constructively? Introduction A note about political diversity From genes to moral matrices The grand narratives of liberalism and conservatism The left's blind spot: moral capital A yin and two yangs Yin: Liberal wisdom Yang 1. Libertarian wisdom Yang 2. Social conservative wisdom Toward more civil politics In sum ## Conclusion