Depolarising Politics: Talk 1: Political Values, their Polarisation and Integration
This talk is a video version of a talk first given on the recent weekend retreat, ‘Depolarising Politics’. Robert M. Ellis looks first at the nature of political values, using the analysis of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, then at how those values become polarised through absolutisation, and how we can make it possible to reconcile them by making them provisional.
Went on the depolarising politics weekend.
Really useful discussions and well structured by Robert.
Really recommend it when it comes around again!
Howard.
I would be very interested to hear about how Iain McGilchrist sees Jonathan Haidt, in particular, Haidt’s book on religion “The Righteous Mind”. If you have ever had a discussion on this topic (with Iain McGilchrist), sharing would probably be very enlightening. If this crosses boundaries of privacy, I can understand that this may not be a question easily answered.
Hi Charles,
It was actually Iain McGilchrist who first recommended Haidt’s work to me and put me onto it, so I know he has a favourable view of it. If you want to ask McGilchrist himself about this, I know that there is a plan to introduce a facility for Q&A of some kind on his new website https://channelmcgilchrist.com/ (though I don’t think this has been put into action yet).
I have also written a review of ‘The Righteous Mind’ on this website: https://www.middlewaysociety.org/books/psychology-books/the-righteous-mind-by-jonathan-haidt/. I really wouldn’t say it was about religion, though – much more about socio-political values! I object to the final third of the book, which dogmatically over-extends the conclusions of his otherwise very helpful work.