Moral Roots

Anyone who has worked with children knows that the first draft of the human mind isn't blank. We come into the world with certain dispositions. Jonathan Haidt believes he has collected the best candidates for the absolute basics of the moral mind. He claims that all humans carry strong desires towards these 5 categories.

1. Harm/care - We bond and feel compassion while carrying strong feelings about those how cause harm.

2. Fariness/reciprocity - The foundation of most religions, this is where we get the golden rule and hell.

3. Ingroup/loyalty - Groups exist in the animal kingdom, but they are either very small or they are all siblings. Only among humans do you find very large cooperating groups.

4. Authority/respect - Obviously both humans and animals generate respect from power and brutality. However, humans have learned to base it on more voluntary deference including love.

5. Purity/sanctity - Any kind of ideology that tells you that you can obtain virtue by controlling what you do with yourself or what happens to a place. i.e. 'eating healthy/local/organically is a virtue'