Can embracing contradictory moral principles be a cure for political polarization? Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7494/human.2025.24.1.7081Keywords:
Moral Foundations Theory, political polarization, rationalityAbstract
The essay analyzes Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) and its application in explaining political polarization. It discusses the three main principles of morality and the six universal moral foundations proposed by Haidt, as well as the controversial claim that the political right draws on a broader range of innate moral intuitions. Despite numerous theoretical and methodological objections to MFT, it remains an influential model for explaining ideological and political differences. At first glance, MFT leads to pessimistic conclusions that rational arguments have little significance and do not reduce worldview divisions. However, awareness of universal cognitive limitations and diverse moral matrices is undoubtedly a valuable perspective that expands the possibilities for social depolarization.
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