[Preprint] Introduction, In the Face of Another's Suffering (original) (raw)
Related papers
In the Face of Another's Suffering: Passion, Thought, and Action in Compassion
In the Face of Another's Suffering: Passion, Thought, and Action in Compassion, 2022
This book sets out to philosophically explore the following questions: What is compassion? What does it tell us about the relationship between the rational and irrational in man? What role does it have in the flourishing life? To answer, it begins by discussing Aristotle’s account of compassion, followed by Thomas Aquinas, Martha Nussbaum, Kristján Kristjánsson, and Diana Fritz Cates. The wide range of authors and the focus on emotion and virtue allows one to build a solid picture of compassion as perfective of the human person, as the good response to suffering, and as certainly key in human flourishing. The presentation of each author features a thorough discussion of each one’s notion of emotion and virtue, highlighting similarities, differences, strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis the others. Each philosophical anthropological framework is in turn used to understand each author’s take on compassion and the ethical potential envisioned for it. The choice of classical and contemporary accounts allows one to grasp the shift from compassion as a noteworthy “good emotion” (as per the original Aristotelian account) to compassion as an important virtue for relational moral excellence. Choosing to be compassionate disposes us to help other individuals flourish in a truly human way, and also enables us to take steps towards a society and culture where all—even the weakest—can flourish. This book will be of interest to academics from both philosophy and psychology, compassion researchers and trainers, and character educators.
This paper is a discussion of the emotion of compassion or pity, and the corresponding virtue. It begins by placing the emotion of compassion in the moral conceptual landscape, and then moves to reject the currently dominant view, a version of Aristotelianism developed by Martha Nussbaum, in favour of a non-cognitive conception of compassion as a feeling. An alternative neo-Aristotelian account is then outlined. The relation of the virtue of compassion to other virtues is plotted, and some doubts sown about its practical significance.
The role of compassion in moral actions
Most would think that compassion plays an important role whenever we perform moral actions such as saving a drowning child in the pool. The Chinese philosopher Mencius provides an example:
Introduction: The Moral Psychology of Compassion
At first sight, it is hard to imagine a full account of our moral and social lives that has nothing to say about compassion. The moral value of compassion is emphasized in many religious traditions; and many moral theorists have taken compassion to play a foundational role in our moral lives. Yet there is no agreed account of what compassion is. There is disagreement, too, about compassion's value – how, exactly, it might contribute to morally admirable or flourishing lives; what its limitations and dangers might be; and even whether it is important in our moral lives at all. Finally, assuming that compassion is morally valuable, we might wonder how it is to be cultivated. In this introduction, we shall sketch some of the background to these debates, before introducing the chapters that follow.
We understand compassion as an emotion of sorrow in response to the understood suffering of another person; acknowledgement of that suffering and a motivation to assist the suffering person are central elements of a compassionate response. In connection with moral considerations concerning compassion, we examine a number of concerns about compassion and its object. As to the latter, we describe recent accounts of the phenomenon known as ‘poverty porn.’ ‘Poverty porn’ is a pejorative label for portrayals that vividly emphasize the sorrowful condition of needy persons. It has been criticized as disrespectful of the persons depicted and counterproductive as a means of contributing to meaningful change in their conditions. We outline several pitfalls of compassion and connect our account with a recent account of the fallacy of appealing to pity. We relate our account to three pathologies of compassion: (a) the exploitation by some of the compassionate feelings of others; (b) indulgence in commiseration at the cost of action; and (c) compassion fatigue. Shifting to the theme of persons experiencing compassion, we argue that here, as in other contexts, emotional appeals are relevant to the rationality of actions to be undertaken but insufficient to provide good reasons for those actions. Our treatment bears intriguing similarities to that of Sophie Condorcet in her late eighteenth century work, Letters on Sympathy, appended to her 1798 translation of Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments into French.
[Preprint] Conclusion: In the Face of Another's Suffering
2022
Compassion can integrate our affectivity, perception, intellect, and will such that we seek and actualize certain goods when confronted with the reality of another’s suffering. We present a final broad integration about compassion following this three-part structure: the initial emotional response, the perfection of the response, and the achievement of the goods of compassion. We see that choosing to be compassionate disposes us to help other individuals flourish in a truly human way, and also enables us to take steps towards a society and culture where all—even the weakest—can flourish.
Compassion in contemporary philosophy is a rare jewel. Not only because contemporary philosophy is modeled on argument and competition, but the word ‘compassion’ itself rarely makes an entrance. Instead, philosophers have tended to speak of altruism, and its opposite, egoism. But I would suggest that our age is sorely in need of reengaging with the idea of compassion. This paper gives a review of the philosophical idea of altruism, and then considers how the faith traditions might inform a contemporary reengagement with the practice of compassion. The paper was written for an address to a lay audience at a philosophy event.
ON COMPASSION_AN INTRODUCTION.pdf
Kyprianidou, Ε. (2019) (ed. & introduction). The Art of Compassion. Athens: Nissos Publications, 2019
Compassion is present in every day life and discussions; references to compassion and empathy appear often in the mass media, political campaigns and in a wide range of studies concerning medical care, education, justice, psychotherapy, ethics, art theories and more. This introduction examines the sentimental basis and nature of compassion and attempts to clarify the related notions of empathy, sympathy and pity.
Budapest International Research and Critics Institute (BIRCI-Journal): Humanities and Social Sciences
The concept of suffering is as old as human history. Efforts to reduce and eliminate suffering have been done in various ways. One of them is compassion, which is an effort to reduce and eliminate the suffering of others. The purpose of this study is to describe the manifestations of compassion that are present in daily life and to understand the process of how acts of compassion are born. A qualitative phenomenological approach was chosen using reflections on life experiences of 1066 participants (Men = 392, Women = 674, range of age 12-65 years) who lived in Jakarta, Indonesia. The results of the study revealed that he manifestations of compassion in daily life can be grouped into two major parts, namely tangible compassion and intangible compassion. Tangible compassion consists of financial support, material goods, helping behavior, and involvement in social activities. While intangible compassion consists of emotional support, companion support, informational support, spiritual ...