The Political Mind
The science and psychology of politics
Navigation
  • About
  • Mind&Politics
  • G Scott Blakley
  • I. A. Grea
You are here: Home › Commentary › Rick Santorum, Lakoffian Conservative
← Harry Perkins and the Rest of Us
Secular Humanism, The Enemy →

Rick Santorum, Lakoffian Conservative

March 3, 2012 | Filed under: Commentary and tagged with: conservative moral politics, freedom, religion informs politics, Rick Santorum, separation of church and state

Doesn’t it seem like Rick Santorum is merely a plant to prove George Lakoff’s theory of conservative moral politics? In Lakoff’s analysis, conservatives follow a “strict father model”, which has several aspects. Primary among these aspects is what Lakoff calls the “Principle of Self Defense: It is the moral duty of all adherents of Strict Father morality to defend Strict Father morality above all else (Moral Politics, p. 97).”

Among the aspects of the strict father model is “moral order”. It is based on what Lakoff calls a “folk theory” of the natural order, according to which,

“God is naturally more powerful than people… Adults are naturally more powerful than children. Men are naturally more powerful than women.” These power relations then become relations of moral authority (p. 81).

Rich Santorum noted on ABC’s “This Week” that his faith fits with his ideas on governing, that he disagrees with the absolute separation of church and state. In Santorum’s view, God provides the order which we try to implement. In other words, we need religion and the church to inform our minds and our consciences as we go about the task of governing.

Conservatives and liberals also seem to see a different meaning in the word “freedom.” For liberals, freedom is associated with individual rights; for conservatives it seems to come with thinking and acting in accordance with the truth.

Rick Santorum seems to find that truth in the Bible and in conservative community. This, it seems, is what spurs him to refer to President Obama as a “snob” for promoting college attendance. If students in college will merely be indoctrinated by liberal professors, they will lose their understanding of what is right, and with it their true freedom.

The recent skirmishes around contraception also seem to play well into the Lakoffian analysis, touching on notions of moral boundaries, moral order, and moral purity. Contraception permits sex outside of established family boundaries, threatens the family which is established by the moral authority of husband over wife, and parent over child, and fosters self-indulgence at the expense of self-control.

For Santorum, the election seems less about the practice of democracy, and more about ensuring that right triumphs and saves America and Americans from their less lofty impulses.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Did you like this article? Share it with your friends!

Tweet

Written by Jacob Jefferson Jakes

← Harry Perkins and the Rest of Us
Secular Humanism, The Enemy →

RSS Jonathan Haidt

  • Why The Righteous Mind may be the best common reading for incoming college students February 19, 2017 Jonathan Haidt

RSS George Lakoff

RSS Corey Robin

Jacob Jefferson Jakes

The Political Mind

  • View Jacob-Jefferson-Jakes-127488407357719’s profile on Facebook
  • View JacobJJakes’s profile on Twitter
  • View 118350928673473455810’s profile on Google+

Mind&Politics

  • View mindandpolitics’s profile on Facebook
  • View mindandpolitics’s profile on Twitter
  • View 107647165319384338834’s profile on Google+

Recent Posts

  • The Truth Behind the Curtain: Ken Ham, Antonin Scalia, and Milton Friedman find it February 20, 2017
  • “I Support Trump” July 31, 2016
  • GOP Media Warfare, Hierarchy, and Agriculture November 28, 2015
  • To the Heart of an Idea, Conservative and Liberal October 25, 2015
  • State Sovereignty and Constitutionally-limited Government September 7, 2015
  • “…of the United States…”: Creating a Nation July 27, 2014
  • I Would Not Throw the Fat Man Off the Bridge and onto the Trolley Tracks July 13, 2014
  • Shit Happens and Big Data July 12, 2014
  • Wittgenstein, Identity-Protection Cognition, and Understanding Rather than Persuading June 1, 2014
  • What if Piketty is Right? April 27, 2014

Recent Comments

    Archives

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org

    Categories

    Tags

    1% abortion ACA Adam Smith anti-federalist Articles of Confederation Avi Tuschman conservatism conservative enthusiasm conservative mind constitution critical thinking Daniel Kahneman David Brooks democracy Edmund Burke Elvin Lim federalist federal taxes George Lakoff hobby lobby income inequality Jonathan Haidt Joshua Greene karma liberal mind libertarians Mitt Romney moral politics Moral Tribes natural law neoconservatives Newt GIngrich Occupy Wall Street Patrick Allitt pro-life racism robert reich Steven Pinker strict father strict father model tax policy Tea Party The Lovers Quarrel Thomas Pangle

    © 2025 The Political Mind

    Powered by Esplanade Theme by One Designs and WordPress