Timely Topics: The Six Moral Foundations

8:45 & 11:45 AM SUNDAY, APRIL 27 IN THE CHAPEL 

Why are good people divided by politics and religion? Why do some people like spicy food while others do not? In “The Righteous Mind” (The April selection for Read and Reflect with Pastor Stephen) Professor Jonathan Haidt attempts to answer the first question by developing a framework that he calls Moral Foundations Theory (MFT). Haidt argues that humans have six moral foundations through which we view politics and policy: Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating, Loyalty/Betrayal, Authority/Subversion, Sanctity/Degradation, and Liberty/Oppression.

These moral foundations, according to Haidt, act as our political “taste buds” and explain our political preferences in the same way that our lingual taste buds explain our culinary preferences. Some political ideologies rely on the Care/Harm foundation while others rely on Loyalty/Betrayal. Some people taste Fairness in terms of equality while others do so in terms of proportionality. Some people prefer salty food, some prefer sweet.

On April 27, join Pastor Stephen for this introductory lesson on Moral Foundations Theory.