I was trying to understand the way that purity acts as a moral value beyond physical disgust (re: Moral Foundations Theory)—and realized that as an ideological / epistemic value, it is meant to eliminate paradox and uncomfortable ambiguities. It’s the urge to keep life simple.
Purity judgments draw simple distinctions between what is contaminated and not. Sometimes that judgment comes down to purity of race/class/other personal traits, as if purging people who were the wrong color would somehow erase all troubles in the world.
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In the search for ideological purity (having all the right opinions, being perfectly woke, etc.) there is an underlying desperation for things to be simple, for there to be lasting clarity about what is righteous and important.
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I think that viewing purity through this frame of seeking simplicity gives me more understanding of how it works as a moral value for others. Before, I was mostly confused by why it was involved in moral judgment and how irrational it seems.
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