Rule of Sympathy

Rule of Sympathy
Author: A. Rai
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2002-06-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 0312299176

The Rule of Sympathy is a social and historical critique of sympathy in British discourse in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Although initially associated with feminized or effeminate forms of sentimental discourse (the romance, the novel, the gothic), sympathy came to function as a key technology of gender and race in new evangelical social movements, such as abolitionism and missionizing. Amit Rai argues that sympathy was a paradoxical mode of power. The differences of racial, gender and class inequalities that increasingly divided the object and agent of sympathy were precisely what must be bridged through identification. Yet without such differences, which were differences of power, sympathy itself would be impossible. This paradoxical mode of power transformed the ways in which people came to think of how best to manage, order, and govern individuals and populations in the late eighteenth century.

Sympathy and Antipathy

Sympathy and Antipathy
Author: James Allan
Publisher: Dartmouth Publishing Company
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2002
Genre: Law
ISBN:

The search for a moral standard of right and wrong which is external to any particular evaluator, thus escaping subjectivity, has a long history. Jeremy Bentham, attempting to find such a standard, opted for utilitarianism, which at least provided an inter-subjective standard of right and wrong - everything else collapses into the purely subjective principle of sympathy and antipathy. The author of this book shares Bentham's views about sympathy and antipathy and shows that the principle is alive and well in legal philosophy today

Sympathizing with the Enemy

Sympathizing with the Enemy
Author: Nir Eisikovits
Publisher: Republic of Letters
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2010
Genre: Law
ISBN:

Since the demise of the Soviet Union, and, to a greater degree, after the collapse of apartheid in South Africa, interest in the transition from mass atrocity has swelled, but produced few systematic philosophical discussions of the notion of reconciliation until this work.

Adam Smith and the Circles of Sympathy

Adam Smith and the Circles of Sympathy
Author: Fonna Forman-Barzilai
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2010-03-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0521761123

A broad-ranging 2010 study of Smith's views on moral judgement, humanitarian care, commerce, justice and international law.

The Power of Sympathy

The Power of Sympathy
Author: William Hill Brown
Publisher: Graphic Arts Books
Total Pages: 122
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1513273671

The Power of Sympathy (1789) is a novel by American author William Hill Brown. Considered the first American novel, The Power of Sympathy is a work of sentimental fiction which explores the lessons of the Enlightenment on the virtues of rational thought. A story of forbidden romance, seduction, and incest, Brown’s novel is based on the real-life scandal of Perez Morton and Fanny Apthorp, a New England brother- and sister-in-law who struck up an affair that ended in suicide and infamy. Inspired by their tragedy, and hoping to write a novel which captured the need for rational education in the newly formed United States of America, Brown wrote and published The Power of Sympathy anonymously in Boston. The novel, narrated in a series of letters, is the story of Thomas Harrington. He falls for the local beauty Harriot Fawcet, initially hoping to make her his mistress. But when she rejects him, his friend Jack Worthy suggests that he attempt to court and then propose to her, which is the honorable and lawful choice. Thomas’ overly sentimental mind is persuaded by Jack’s unflinching reason, and so he decides to pursue Harriot once more. This time, he is successful, and the two eventually become engaged, but their happiness soon fades when Mrs. Eliza Holmes, a family friend of the Harringtons, reveals the true nature of Harriot’s identity. As the secrets of Mr. Harrington—Thomas’ father—are revealed, the couple are forced to choose between the morals and laws of society and the passionate love they share. The Power of Sympathy is a moving work of tragedy and romance with a pointed message about the need for education in the recently founded United States. Despite borrowing from the British and European traditions of sentimental fiction and the epistolary novel, Brown’s work is a distinctly American masterpiece worthy of our continued respect and attention. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of William Hill Brown’s The Power of Sympathy is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Against Empathy

Against Empathy
Author: Paul Bloom
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2016-12-06
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0062339354

New York Post Best Book of 2016 We often think of our capacity to experience the suffering of others as the ultimate source of goodness. Many of our wisest policy-makers, activists, scientists, and philosophers agree that the only problem with empathy is that we don’t have enough of it. Nothing could be farther from the truth, argues Yale researcher Paul Bloom. In AGAINST EMPATHY, Bloom reveals empathy to be one of the leading motivators of inequality and immorality in society. Far from helping us to improve the lives of others, empathy is a capricious and irrational emotion that appeals to our narrow prejudices. It muddles our judgment and, ironically, often leads to cruelty. We are at our best when we are smart enough not to rely on it, but to draw instead upon a more distanced compassion. Basing his argument on groundbreaking scientific findings, Bloom makes the case that some of the worst decisions made by individuals and nations—who to give money to, when to go to war, how to respond to climate change, and who to imprison—are too often motivated by honest, yet misplaced, emotions. With precision and wit, he demonstrates how empathy distorts our judgment in every aspect of our lives, from philanthropy and charity to the justice system; from medical care and education to parenting and marriage. Without empathy, Bloom insists, our decisions would be clearer, fairer, and—yes—ultimately more moral. Brilliantly argued, urgent and humane, AGAINST EMPATHY shows us that, when it comes to both major policy decisions and the choices we make in our everyday lives, limiting our impulse toward empathy is often the most compassionate choice we can make.

The Destroyers

The Destroyers
Author: Christopher Bollen
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2017-06-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0062330004

An Esquire Best Book of the Year • A Paste Best Novel of the Year Recommended by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, TIME, Vogue, Paste, New York Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Seattle Times, Yahoo!, Refinery29, BBC, PopSugar, Boston Herald, New York Social Diary, Library Journal, Bookstr, Kirkus “A seductive and richly atmospheric literary thriller with a sleek Patricia Highsmith surface." —New York Times Book Review "Equal parts Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Destroyers is at once lyrical and suspenseful, thoughtful and riveting." —Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You “Superb. . . . A read-all-night of a book.” —Alan Furst, author of A Hero of France Arriving on the stunning Greek island of Patmos, Ian Bledsoe is broke, humiliated, and fleeing the fallout from his father’s death. His childhood friend Charlie—rich, exuberant, and basking in the success of his new venture on the island—could be his last hope. At first Patmos appears to be a dream—long, sun-soaked days on Charlie’s yacht and the reappearance of a girlfriend from Ian’s past—and Charlie readily offers Ian the lifeline he so desperately needs. But, like Charlie himself, this beautiful island conceals a darkness beneath, and it isn’t long before the dream begins to fragment. When Charlie suddenly vanishes, Ian finds himself caught up in deception after deception. As he grapples with the turmoil left in his friend’s wake, he is reminded of an imaginary game called Destroyers they invented as children—a game, he now realizes, they may have never stopped playing.

Remote Sympathy

Remote Sympathy
Author: Catherine Chidgey
Publisher: Europa Editions
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2021-05-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1609456289

This polyphonic novel of an S.S. officer, his ailing wife, and a concentration camp survivor “marks a vital turn in Holocaust literature” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Being appointed administrator of the Buchenwald work camp is a major advancement for SS Sturmbannführer Dietrich Hahn. But as the prison population begins to rise, his job becomes ever more consuming. His wife, Frau Greta Hahn, finds their new home even lovelier than their apartment in Munich. She enjoys life among the other officer’s wives, and the ease with which she can purchase nearly anything her heart desires. When Frau Hahn is forced into an unlikely alliance with one of Buchenwald’s prisoners, Dr. Lenard Weber, her naïve ignorance about what is going on so nearby is challenged. A decade earlier, Dr. Weber had invented a machine: the Sympathetic Vitaliser. At the time he believed that its subtle resonances might cure cancer. But does it really work? One way or another, it might yet save a life. A tour de force about the evils of obliviousness, Remote Sympathy compels us to question our continuing and willful ability to look the other way in a world that is once more in thrall to the idea that everything—even facts, truth and morals—is relative. Shortlisted for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards