Jonathan Haidt

Life

Jonathan Haidt was born in 1963 in New York City. He earned his BA from Yale University in 1985 and his PhD in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. After postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago, he began his academic career as a professor at the University of Virginia, where he taught from 1995 to 2011. In 2012, he joined the New York University Stern School of Business as the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership, a position he holds today. His research on the psychological bases of morality gained widespread attention with the publication of The Happiness Hypothesis in 2006 and his seminal work The Righteous Mind in 2012.

People Who Influenced Their Thought

• David Hume: Haidt's social intuitionist model, which posits that moral reasoning is often a post-hoc justification for intuitive emotional responses, is heavily influenced by Hume's emphasis on sentiment over reason in morality.
• Richard Shweder: Shweder's theory of the "three ethics" of moral discourse (Autonomy, Community, Divinity) provided the foundational framework that Haidt expanded into his six moral foundations.
• Paul Rozin: As his PhD advisor, Rozin's work on the moral emotions of disgust and contempt directly shaped Haidt's early research on the emotional underpinnings of morality.

Main Ideas and Publications

• Moral Foundations Theory: Developed with colleagues Craig Joseph and Jesse Graham, this theory, fully articulated around 2004, proposes that there are six innate psychological moral systems (Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating, Loyalty/Betrayal, Authority/Subversion, Sanctity/Degradation, and later Liberty/Oppression) upon which cultures build their moral matrices.
• The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom: Published in 2006, this book explores how ancient philosophical ideas about virtue and happiness align with modern psychological science.
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion: Published in 2012, this book popularized Moral Foundations Theory, arguing that political differences stem from varying sensitivities to these foundations, with liberals prioritizing Care and Fairness and conservatives using all six more equally.
• The Coddling of the American Mind: Co-authored with Greg Lukianoff and published in 2018, this book argues that well-intentioned overprotectiveness is harming young people's resilience and mental health, and undermining university education.

Controversies around his main work or thought

Moral Foundations Theory has been criticized by some psychologists who argue the foundations are not truly innate or universal but are culturally constructed. His work in The Righteous Mind has been accused of providing a scientific justification for conservative morality, thereby normalizing it. The Coddling of the American Mind provoked significant controversy, with many academics and commentators disputing its characterization of campus culture, its data on rising adolescent anxiety, and its argument that "safetyism" is a primary cause of mental health issues.

Key People Influenced by Their Thought

• Chris Hayes: The MSNBC host and political commentator has publicly cited Haidt's work as crucial to his understanding of political polarization and moral psychology.
• Angela Duckworth: The author of Grit has collaborated with Haidt and his ideas on character and resilience inform the broader conversation he helped shape in education.
• Yascha Mounk: The political scientist and writer on democratic fragility draws on Haidt's analyses of campus culture and political tribalism in his own work.

Legacy

He has profoundly shaped the public understanding of moral psychology and political polarization, providing a influential, if debated, framework for why moral disagreements are so intractable and how to foster more constructive dialogue across ideological divides.