# Professor Jonathan Haidt's books, "The Righteous Mind" and "The Happiness Hypothesis," are referenced

1 Faculty News August 7, 2019 ![Project Syndicate logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_030500.jpg?itok=ONV7lJ6H)>

Excerpt from [Project Syndicate](https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/classes-in-ethics-can-change-student-behavior-by-peter-singer-2019-08) -- "[Jonathan Haidt](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/jonathan-haidt), author of The Happiness Hypothesis and The Righteous Mind, uses a metaphor reminiscent of Plato, but in support of a view closer to Hume, to illustrate what he calls the social intuitionist perspective on ethics: 'The mind is divided, like a rider on an elephant,' he writes on the first page of The Righteous Mind, 'and the rider’s job is to serve the elephant.'"

[Read more](https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/classes-in-ethics-can-change-student-behavior-by-peter-singer-2019-08)