Watching Bill Moyers' interview with Jonathan Haidt last weekend, I was frustrated by the way in which both Liberals and Conservatives were being dis-served by the qualities impugned to them under each of Haidt's determinative categories:
- Care
- Fairness
- Liberty
- Loyalty
- Authority
- Sanctity
I would have liked a little more exposition on how Liberals and Conservatives interpret each of these qualities. Saying that both camps value Care, Fairness and Liberty equally doesn't come close to defining the ways in which we do so. Saying that Conservatives value Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity far more than do Liberals implies that Liberals hold these values in low esteem when, in fact, I would argue that we hold those values very highly indeed.
To be fair, I have not read , nor do I intend to do so.
But I have a certain fondness for lists, and this one does provide a foundation on which to ponder certain questions about values, about what we bring to the table, maybe even about what we need from each other. So over the next few weeks, I want to spend some time with each of them.
I don't know what I'm going to come up with yet. But if you find yourselves burdened with random thoughts on the subject, feel free to share. I will steal (with attribution) as I see fit.