Fairness, Harm, Purity, Loyalty & Authority

Eric W. Shamlin • 19th Jun 2010 • Random Thoughts, Politics, Random Thoughts

Greta Christina authored a great, if casual, examination of the 5 recently studied pillars of morality. Those being how we value and prioritize concepts of fairness, harm, purity, loyalty & authority. A few great studies have come out in recent years basically showing how you can break down a person’s moral worldview into those five elements. In general, those who self-identify as liberal prioritize fairness & harm, while self-identified conservatives prioritize purity, loyalty & authority. All worldviews tend to include all 5 but prioritize them differently.

She makes a great argument for why the liberal values are better. I agree with her reasoning.

It’s a great read. Obligatory excerpt below:

When liberals and conservatives debate the burning issues of the day — whether it’s immigration or marriage equality, global warming or health care reform — we often wind up talking at cross-purposes, and the conversations go around in increasingly belligerent circles … because we’re not starting with the same ethical foundations. We assume that we have the same core values, and are simply debating the best way to apply those values in the world. We’re not. We’re debating — not very effectively or coherently most of the time — the core values themselves.