The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion.

London: Penguin Books, 2013. Reprint ed.. Paperback trade, very good condition, minor edgewear. 501 pp. Jonathan Haidt, an American social psychology academic, wisely explores why our political leaders can't work together. Our minds are hardwired to be moral and judgemental. Conservatives and liberals (progressives) live in different moral universes (politics and religion). He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain. Why do ideas such as "fairness" and "freedom" mean such different things to different people? He explains why conservatives can navigate that map more skilfully than can liberals. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures. It is possible to liberate ourselves from the disputes that divide good people, and to cooperate with those whose views differ from our own.