Moral Values and Political Views

Questions of the Day

1. How do our moral values shape our political views?  
2. How can we use this to better understand people with different political views than ours?

Starter 26

1. How similar or different do you think liberals and conservatives are in terms of their morality?  Where are the key differences?  Where do they overlap?
2. Think of an issue you feel really strongly about.  What do you think of people who take the opposite position?

Moral Foundation Statement Quiz

1. Moral Foundation Statement Quiz
2. Take the first quiz here (you’ll need to register here to be able to take the quiz).
3. When you’re done, copy the graph you get into a word document or google doc.  You’ll need these results later!
4. Okay, now let’s find out what these results mean.

Haidt:  Moral Matrix Setup

1. This guy is speaking to an audience of liberals, so you’ll notice that his rhetoric is pitched to them, and can be really alienating (and sometimes a little offensive) if you are more conservative.
2. HOWEVER…don’t let that fool you.  His underlying point is actually criticizing the group he's talking to for being so monolithic.  Remember, he’s playing to an audience here.  That doesn’t mean his underlying points are invalid.  His ultimate goal is to REDUCE division between liberals and conservatives.

Haidt:  Moral Matrix TED Talk

1. Watch TED Talk (linked above and on the Docs page of my DP)
2. Take notes on the 3 most interesting points he makes
3. What is the Moral Matrix?  Sum it up with the class.
4. What is he saying about moral values?  How does this connect to politics?
   1. Harm/care and Fairness/Reciprocity are shared.  Slight differences, but liberals and conservatives all value these things.
   2. Other 3 are where real differences exist (In group loyalty, Purity, Authority/respect).
   3. We ALL use all of them, but for liberals, the first two tend to carry much higher weight.
5. Class Analysis of Issues.  What are the moral values used by liberals and conservatives to reach judgments on the following issues?
   1. Abortion
   2. Flag Burning
   3. Gay Marriage

​Moral Values Poster
Now go back to the chart you got after you took the moral values quiz.  Use that chart to make a poster for LEAST emphasized value on your chart.  The poster should include:

1. 1. Value Name
   2. Symbol or illustration that represents this value
   3. Benefits of value (bulleted list)
   4. Downsides of value (bulleted list)
   5. Why you value this least—what about it DON’T you like?  3-4 sentences

Model Senate Roles

1. Take a look at the different roles for Model Senate, and the senators available.  There are documents linked on the Docs page that will help with this.
2. Honors Model Senate Survey
3. Model Senate Survey

HOMEWORK:
NONE!  Have a great weekend.