Hemant Mehta

[Whateverist]

Very glad to have you here to represent the conservative perspective, Hammok.  Don't feel alone though, Brewer is in your camp and there are other atheists in there with you.  I'm your opposite on that score but I'm very interested in understanding what motivates conservatives.

So many questions I have for you.  The big one might be to ask if you voted for Trump and if you think he is representative of what conservatives seek in politics.  (I'm guessing not.)

You have probably heard of the six moral foundations.  Presumably the liberal/conservative divide can be understood as a difference in emphasis between us in those foundational values.  

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Moral Foundations Theory was created by a group of social and cultural psychologists () to understand why morality varies so much across cultures yet still shows so many similarities and recurrent themes. In brief, the theory proposes that several innate and universally available psychological systems are the foundations of “intuitive ethics.” Each culture then constructs virtues, narratives, and institutions on top of these foundations, thereby creating the unique moralities we see around the world, and conflicting within nations too. The five foundations for which we think the evidence is best are: 
1) Care/harm: This foundation is related to our long evolution as mammals with attachment systems and an ability to feel (and dislike) the pain of others. It underlies virtues of kindness, gentleness, and nurturance.
2) Fairness/cheating: This foundation is related to the evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism. It generates ideas of justice, rights, and autonomy. [Note: In our original conception, Fairness included concerns about equality, which are more strongly endorsed by political liberals. However, as we reformulated the theory in 2011 based on new data, we emphasize proportionality, which is endorsed by everyone, but is more strongly endorsed by conservatives]
3) Loyalty/betrayal: This foundation is related to our long history as tribal creatures able to form shifting coalitions. It underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group. It is active anytime people feel that it's "one for all, and all for one."
4) Authority/subversion: This foundation was shaped by our long primate history of hierarchical social interactions. It underlies virtues of leadership and followership, including deference to legitimate authority and respect for traditions.
5) Sanctity/degradation: This foundation was shaped by the psychology of disgust and contamination. It underlies religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, more noble way. It underlies the widespread idea that the body is a temple which can be desecrated by immoral activities and contaminants (an idea not unique to religious traditions).  
We think there are several other very good candidates for "foundationhood," especially:
6) Liberty/oppression: This foundation is about the feelings of reactance and resentment people feel toward those who dominate them and restrict their liberty. Its intuitions are often in tension with those of the authority foundation. The hatred of bullies and dominators motivates people to come together, in solidarity, to oppose or take down the oppressor. We report some preliminary work on this potential foundation in , on the psychology of libertarianism and liberty.

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So as a liberal I very much emphasize 1, 2 and 6.  I wonder if you feel the same way about 3, 4 and 5?  Presumably we can all find something in each category which fits.

If I were to start a thread in which to explore these differences, any chance you'd care to participate?