Source-oriented archive
This chapter-by-chapter collection preserves provenance and PDF navigation. The canonical browsing structure is the theme-first 40 Stories library; Theme Assignment Ledger records each story’s single primary home.
⬅️ Stories MOC · Book note: The Righteous Mind · Source PDF: The Righteous Mind PDF (file not included in this release)
Curated extraction
60 reusable stories, thought experiments, and research episodes selected from Chapters 1–12 and the Conclusion. The extraction favors a concrete scene, reversal, encounter, or observed experiment that can carry an argument. Hypothetical prompts are retained only when their narrative structure carries a reusable philosophical distinction.
Evidence boundary
Haidt is the immediate source. These notes distinguish autobiographical episodes, observed conversations, and research demonstrations. They paraphrase the book, preserve the qualifications in its endnotes, and retain source locators; they do not independently reanalyze the data or resolve later methodological and replication debates.
Selection rule
A passage is retained when it contains concrete narrative action and a transferable claim useful in writing, teaching, or moral argument. PDF++ links use the PDF viewer’s page numbering, not printed-page labels.
Chapters and stories
Chapter 1 — Where Does Morality Come From? (3)
- Five Thousand Miles Away, and a Few Blocks West — Autobiographical research reversal; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 38–40 (file not included in this release)
- A Four-Year-Old Interviews His Father in a Bathroom — Conversation overheard and interpreted by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 40–41 (file not included in this release)
- Haidt's Subjects Invent Victims for Judgments Already Made — Haidt’s interpretation of interview behavior; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 42–43 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 2 — The Intuitive Dog and Its Rational Tail (4)
- Jefferson Lets His Head and Heart Argue over Maria Cosway — Historical episode and literary self-portrait retold by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 47–48 (file not included in this release)
- Damasio's Patients Keep Their IQ and Lose Their Practical Judgment — Clinical pattern from Damasio retold by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 52–53 (file not included in this release)
- Haidt's Failed Experiments Undo His Preferred Model — Autobiographical research reversal; Learning, Curiosity & Discovery; PDF pp. 54–55 (file not included in this release)
- Thirty Students Face Roach Juice, a Soul Sale, and Moral Dumbfounding — Unpublished interview study reported by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 55–59 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 3 — Elephants Rule (5)
- Haidt Catches His Inner Lawyer Inventing an Alibi — Autobiographical episode; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 72–74 (file not included in this release)
- A Hypnotic Word Makes Innocent Dan Seem Wrong — Controlled hypnosis experiment reported by its coauthor; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 72–74 (file not included in this release)
- A Perfumed Trash Can Makes Moral Judgments Harsher — Field experiment retold by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 80–81 (file not included in this release)
- Babies Prefer the Helper to the Hinderer — Infant social-evaluation experiment retold by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 84–85 (file not included in this release)
- Two Minutes of Reflection Let a Strong Argument Through — Delayed-judgment experiment retold by Haidt; Learning, Curiosity & Discovery; PDF pp. 90–91 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 4 — Vote for Me (Here's Why) (7)
- The Ring of Gyges Removes Every Witness — Platonic thought experiment retold and interpreted by Haidt; existing canonical story at Character, Integrity & Example; PDF pp. 94–96 (file not included in this release)
- Self-Proclaimed Mavericks Watch Their Ratings Fall — Social-psychology experiment retold by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 100–101 (file not included in this release)
- The 2–4–6 Testers Never Try to Prove Themselves Wrong — Classic hypothesis-testing experiment retold by Haidt; Learning, Curiosity & Discovery; PDF pp. 102–103 (file not included in this release)
- Three Partial Rings of Gyges Create Honest Cheaters — Political scandal and laboratory findings assembled by Haidt; Character, Integrity & Example; PDF pp. 105–106 (file not included in this release)
- Max Rejects Ice Cream When It Becomes a Command — Autobiographical parenting anecdote; Communication, Persuasion & Truth; PDF p. 107 (file not included in this release)
- Partisans Escape Their Candidate's Contradiction — Small partisan-neuroimaging study retold by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 109–111 (file not included in this release)
- Ethics Books Go Missing from Philosophy Libraries — Source-dated research program retold by Haidt; Character, Integrity & Example; PDF p. 112 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 5 — Beyond WEIRD Morality (3)
- Haidt Gets His Ph.D. at McDonald's — Autobiographical field-research episode; Learning, Curiosity & Discovery; PDF pp. 118–119 (file not included in this release)
- Three Months in India Make Another Moral World Felt — Autobiographical cultural-immersion episode; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 125–130 (file not included in this release)
- Shweder's Red Pill Makes Conservatives Legible — Autobiographical political reversal; Conflict, Anger & Reconciliation; PDF pp. 131–134 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 6 — Taste Buds of the Righteous Mind (3)
- The True Taste Restaurant Serves Only Sweeteners — Fictional thought experiment by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 136–138 (file not included in this release)
- A Hover Fly Borrows a Wasp's Warning Stripes — Natural-history illustration retold by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 150–151 (file not included in this release)
- A Nurse Comforts a Child Who Cannot Feel It — Hypothetical philosophical vignette by Haidt; Character, Integrity & Example; PDF p. 153 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 7 — The Moral Foundations of Politics (4)
- Max Becomes Gogo's Mommy — Autobiographical family vignette and photograph; Love, Loyalty & Family Bonds; PDF pp. 159–160 (file not included in this release)
- The Rattlers and Eagles Invent Tribes Before They Meet — Classic field experiment as summarized by Haidt; later methodological and ethical debates are outside this extraction; existing canonical story at Robbers Cave Repairs the Water Line; PDF pp. 166–168 (file not included in this release)
- A Jordanian Father Chooses a Culture of Filial Respect — Conversation recollected by Haidt; Parenting, Discipline & Independence; PDF p. 170 (file not included in this release)
- Armin Meiwes Turns Consent into a Moral Stress Test — Documented criminal case retold and philosophically interpreted by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 175–177 (file not included in this release) · legal correction, endnote 36 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 8 — The Conservative Advantage (5)
- Haidt Rewrites Kerry While Walking the Dog — Autobiographical political-rhetoric vignette; Communication, Persuasion & Truth; PDF pp. 185–188 (file not included in this release)
- Five Liberal Researchers Build YourMorals to Test Their Own Field — Autobiographical research-collaboration episode; Learning, Curiosity & Discovery; PDF pp. 190–193 (file not included in this release)
- Angry Emails Make Haidt Redraw Fairness — Autobiographical research reversal based on reader criticism; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 201–204 (file not included in this release)
- The !Kung Make Every Adult Share the Killing of Twi — Secondhand ethnographic episode quoted by Haidt through Boehm and Lee; Leadership, Power & Responsibility; PDF pp. 204–206 (file not included in this release)
- Swiss Students Pay to Punish Strangers—and Cooperation Climbs — Public-goods experiment summarized by Haidt; Community, Cooperation & Connection; PDF pp. 212–215 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 9 — Why Are We So Groupish? (5)
- Haidt Balances an American Flag with a United Nations Flag — Autobiographical identity vignette; Identity, Calling & Belonging; PDF pp. 220–221 (file not included in this release)
- Twenty-Four Sisters Bring a Motorboat to Evolution's Boat Race — Narratively developed thought experiment; Community, Cooperation & Connection; PDF pp. 231–233 (file not included in this release)
- Toddlers Follow a Point That Chimpanzees Miss — Comparative-cognition study summarized by Haidt; Learning, Curiosity & Discovery; PDF pp. 236–238 (file not included in this release)
- Belyaev Selects the Tamest Foxes—and Doglike Traits Appear — Controlled breeding experiment summarized by Haidt; Learning, Curiosity & Discovery; PDF pp. 245–246 (file not included in this release)
- William Muir Breeds the Cage, Not the Champion Hen — Controlled group-selection experiment summarized by Haidt; Community, Cooperation & Connection; PDF pp. 246–247 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 10 — The Hive Switch (7)
- William McNeill Marches Until the “I” Becomes “We” — Autobiographical military episode and historical interpretation; Community, Cooperation & Connection; PDF pp. 253–254 (file not included in this release)
- Emerson and Darwin Find the Sacred in Nature — Paired historical first-person accounts; Contentment, Meaning & the Good Life; PDF pp. 259–260 (file not included in this release)
- Ten Divinity Students Take Psilocybin in a Chapel — Small controlled experiment and long-term follow-up summarized by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 262–263 (file not included in this release)
- Tony Hsieh Walks into a Rave and Finds a Tribe — Autobiographical founder vignette quoted by Haidt; Identity, Calling & Belonging; PDF pp. 263–264 (file not included in this release)
- Oxytocin Makes Dutch Men More Loyal, Not More Universal — Source-era economic-game studies summarized by Haidt; Community, Cooperation & Connection; PDF pp. 265–267 (file not included in this release)
- Fair Play Determines Whose Shock Hurts — Conditional-empathy experiment summarized by Haidt; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 268–269 (file not included in this release)
- Kennedy's “Ask Not” and Mussolini's Counterfeit Transcendence — Paired political-rhetoric episode and interpretive contrast; Leadership, Power & Responsibility; PDF pp. 272–274 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 11 — Religion Is a Team Sport (7)
- Fifty Thousand Cavaliers Turn a Football Game into a Church — Participant-observer analogy and sociological interpretation; Community, Cooperation & Connection; PDF pp. 277–280 (file not included in this release)
- A Parasite Sends an Ant to the Top of a Blade of Grass — Biological story used as a cultural analogy; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 285–287 (file not included in this release)
- Costly Sacrifices Help Religious Communes Outlast Secular Ones — Historical observational comparison summarized by Haidt; Community, Cooperation & Connection; PDF pp. 289–291 (file not included in this release)
- Balinese Water Temples Coordinate Thousands of Rice Farmers — Institutional and ethnographic case reported through Wilson and Lansing; Community, Cooperation & Connection; PDF pp. 292–293 (file not included in this release)
- Twelve Dancers Weave One Fabric Around a Maypole — Narratively developed analogy and historical illustration; Identity, Calling & Belonging; PDF pp. 293–295 (file not included in this release)
- A !Kung Healing Dance Unites People Who Do Not Like One Another — Secondhand ethnographic episode quoted by Haidt; Conflict, Anger & Reconciliation; PDF pp. 295–296 (file not included in this release)
- Religious Trustees Return More in a German Trust Game — Source-era economic-game experiment summarized by Haidt; Community, Cooperation & Connection; PDF p. 299 (file not included in this release)
Chapter 12 — Can't We All Disagree More Constructively? (6)
- The Choir Master Abandons Keith Richards—and Lights a Rebel Fuse — Autobiographical turning point quoted by Haidt; Identity, Calling & Belonging; PDF pp. 318–320 (file not included in this release)
- Haidt Sits Down on a Bookstore Floor and Rethinks Conservatism — Autobiographical intellectual reversal; Learning, Curiosity & Discovery; PDF pp. 325–327 (file not included in this release)
- Partisans Try to Answer as the Other Side—and Reveal Their Blind Spots — Source-era perspective-taking study reported by its coauthor; Judgment, Perception & Self-Knowledge; PDF pp. 323–324 (file not included in this release)
- Removing Lead from Gasoline Becomes a Test of Public-Health Regulation — Public-policy history and source-era causal synthesis; Leadership, Power & Responsibility; PDF pp. 336–337 (file not included in this release)
- His Father's Hospital Infection Sends David Goldhill into the Health-Care System — Personal loss and policy inquiry summarized by Haidt; Learning, Curiosity & Discovery; PDF pp. 340–342 (file not included in this release)
- Congressional Families Stop Moving to Washington—and Cross-Party Friendships Fade — Retrospective institutional anecdote reported by Jim Leach and Haidt; Community, Cooperation & Connection; PDF pp. 348–349 (file not included in this release)
Conclusion — Moral Pluralism and Groupish Righteousness (1)
- A Child Hears That Political Disagreement Is Why His Parents Are Separating — Political cartoon used as a visual vignette; Conflict, Anger & Reconciliation; PDF p. 355 (file not included in this release)
Source and related notes
- Source PDF (file not included in this release)
- Book note and chapter summaries
- Stories hub
- Story-library source register and editorial method