Compassion
Defined
Compassion
is an
emotion that is a sense of shared
suffering, most often combined with a
desire to alleviate or reduce such
suffering; to show special kindness to those who
suffer. Compassion essentially arises through
empathy, and is often characterized
through actions, wherein a person acting with
compassion will seek to aid those they feel
compassionate for.
Compassionate acts are generally considered those
which take into account the suffering of others and
attempt to alleviate that suffering as if it were
one's own. In this sense, the various forms of the
Golden Rule are clearly based on the
concept of compassion.
Compassion differs from other forms of helpful or
humane behavior in that its focus is primarily on
the alleviation of suffering. Acts of
kindness which seek primarily to confer
benefit rather than relieve existing suffering are
better classified as acts of
altruism, although, in this sense,
compassion itself can be seen as a subset of
altruism, it being defined as the type of behavior
which seeks to benefit others by reducing their
suffering.
Empathy
(from the
Greek, "to make suffer") is commonly
defined as one's ability to recognize, perceive and
directly experientially feel the
emotion of another. As the states of
mind,
beliefs, and
desires of others are intertwined with
their
emotions, one with empathy for another
may often be able to more effectively define
another's modes of thought and mood. Empathy is
often characterized as the ability to "put oneself
into another's shoes", or experiencing the outlook
or emotions of another being within oneself, a sort
of
emotional
resonance.
Altruism
is selfless concern for the
welfare of others. It is a traditional
virtue in many cultures, and central to
many religious traditions. In English, this idea was
often described as the
Golden rule of ethics. In
Buddhism it is considered a fundamental
property of
human nature.
Altruism can be distinguished from a feeling of
loyalty and
duty. Altruism focuses on a motivation to
help others or a want to do good without reward,
while duty focuses on a moral obligation towards a
specific individual (for example, a God, a
king), a specific organization (for
example, a
government), or an abstract concept (for
example,
patriotism etc). Some individuals may
feel both altruism and duty, while others may not.
Pure altruism is giving without regard to reward or
the benefits of recognition.
Compassion & Caring
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