The Righteous Mind

We live in an era where political and religious conflicts feel inescapable, and good people often label each other as wrong or misguided. This book begins by posing a powerful question: why are people who generally want to do the right thing so polarized?

The first step is recognizing that morality is about much more than just logic or clear-cut rules. Instead, we often form judgments based on instincts or intuitions. These gut reactions shape our stances on everything from taxes to social issues before we consciously reason.

To truly grasp the roots of discord, we need to look at the mental and social processes that prepare us to bond within certain groups, resent outsiders, and justify whichever side we join. The deeper we delve, the more we see that our moral intuitions are not uniform.

In the pages ahead, you’ll discover how emotions, upbringing, and culture intersect to produce the moral matrix each of us inhabits. The goal is not to declare one side ‘right’ but to realize how understanding moral foundations can bridge seemingly impossible divides.

Many people assume that actions are labeled moral or immoral based solely on harm or fairness. Yet in many cultures, morality also involves loyalty, tradition, purity, and respect for authority. Different societies prioritize these elements in different ways.

A key point is that what feels obviously immoral to one group—like failing to show proper respect for sacred objects—might seem trivial to another. This leads to misunderstandings, especially when each side believes only one foundation (like ‘harm avoidance’) is truly moral.

Through examples of cultural practices worldwide, we see how moral concepts extend beyond harm-based concerns. Some groups stress family duty or religious purity, while others focus on autonomy and individual rights. Each moral code brings unique virtues and blind spots.

By seeing morality as varied—involving multiple principles—these divisions make more sense. It’s not that one group lacks morality; it’s that groups anchor themselves to different blendings of the available moral foundations, each shaped by history and circumstance.