The work of moral psychologists in the latter part of the twentieth century found that young people had become cynical and egalitarian with regards to moral questions and justifications. Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg piggy-backed on Piaget's theories by adding that adolescents learn to work around what is considered right and fair and become adept at rationalizing their actions as fully justifiable. Psychologist Elliot Turiel learned that young children found that a child's action was wrong if it hurt another child. Haidt presents the theories of developmental psychologist Jean Piaget who found that children have an innate sense of fairness. With such a heady premise, Haidt goes on to explore the various theories and concepts that have emerged over many centuries that touch upon this profound question. Haidt begins with a fundamental question: is man's morality a result of nature or nurture? He asks if man's morality is innate and learned is the way we treat others just shooting from the hip and a natural reaction that is hard-wired into our genes or is it our upbringing that sets the framework of our morality? The Righteous Mind - Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt is an extensive exploration of man's morality and how it originated and has evolved.
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