ABSTRACT
Leftists’ greater mental representational abilities mean they think more abstractly than rightists. Such abstraction made it possible to think in forms or categories such as “Justice” or “Fairness.” Such formalism guaranteed equal treatment to differently situated people by dissolving concrete differences into formal equality. But formalism has negative effects. Rightist White police officers in the US routinely murder Blacks. That might be prevented by making psychological testing mandatory. Such testing would find that conservatives are more likely to be prejudiced against racial minorities and more likely to condone violence against them. A rule should be instituted that people who score high for prejudice should be barred from serving as armed police officers. But such a rule would offend liberal formalism, the idea that all should be treated equally. Something similar is the case with the formal ideal of free expression. Conservatives are more likely to use speech that is harmful. Yet the formal ideal of equal treatment protects them. Licensing of the speech of political pundits or internet users would be one way of lessening verbal violence and increasing civility.
