George Smith Sympathy Essay

Empathy and caring is an essential part of human health. We love because we can empathize (Szalavitz & Perry, 2010). Empathy underlies everything that makes society work; such as altruism, collaboration, love and charity. Failures to empathize are a key part of social problems, such as crime, violence, war, racism, child abuse and inequity. Although we are genetically predisposed to care for others, the development of empathy requires a lifelong process of relational interaction (Szalavitz & Perry, 2010). More importantly, the first relationship humans experience, the

In 1759, Smith published The Theory of Moral Sentiments. This book encapsulated his lectures he presented at Glasgow. The subject of the book included “how human morality depends on sympathy between agent and spectator, or the individual and other members of society.” (Nation Master, 2010) Smith divided his book into two categories which included: the nature of morality and the motive of morality. The book was the first of Smith’s to include the term invisible hand, which would turn out to be one of his best contributions to modern economics.

Empathy is the ability to understand and experience the feelings of others, particularly others’ suffering. Humanity’s gift of understanding complex emotions ushers in a new way of understanding ourselves and how we react to stimuli. This ultimately leads to questioning of everything, leading us to one strong notion: Does empathy guide or hinder moral action?

A human's innate reaction to another person’s pain is piteous. We don’t like seeing others in pain, and often make advances to help them. On the other hand, we may see one who is in pain due to their own detriment, and have a conflicted heart over if their pain is validated according to their sin. Most of the human population choses to overlook the bad, and find the good in others, despite their previous actions. Similarly, in the novel The Inferno as well as the film adaptation of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, the characters in the novels feel pity for and forgive the ones who had sinned in their previous lives. The immediate reaction in one’s heart for another who is suffering is pity and forgiveness, despite the fact that they may

Sympathy is a feeling. When you feel pity or sorrow towards another individual, that is considered sympathy. Sympathy is something that we should keep alive and exercise, as it affects our principles. That’s not a bad thing. Being able to show sympathy and empathy towards others makes us human. We are rational beings and have feelings. Sympathy is relatable to virtue ethics, which allows your feelings to affect your decisions. Good character comes from making the right decisions. While our feelings are most affected by those we love, our feelings are also impacted by total strangers.

Sympathy and altruism are not necessary traits of a moral agent. But moral agents need to be able to take the rights of others into consideration when they make moral decisions. It is easier to do this if you can sympathize with others.

Suppose I was guilty of murdering my boyfriend, what would be your reaction? Would you reconsider the verdict? Would you show some compassion? Would you even try to understand my reason? If you answer yes, you are showing me what is called empathy. “Deepa Kodikal, spiritual adept, says, “Empathy is putting yourself in another’s shoes to find out what exactly that person is feeling or going through at the given time. It basically refers to being at a common wavelength with someone” (Bajaj). Empathy is our confirmation that we haven’t lost our humanity.

When thinking about morality, it is necessary to consider how aspects from both nature and nurture, along with free will, may form ones moral beliefs and dictate ones moral actions. To understand how moral beliefs as well as actions formulate and operate within individuals and societies, it is imperative that a general definition of morality is laid out. Morality, then, can be defined as ones principles regarding what is right and wrong, good or bad. Although an individual may hold moral beliefs, it is not always the case that moral actions follow. Therefore, in this essay I aim to provide an explanation that clarifies the two and in doing so I also hope to further the notion that one’s moral framework is a product of all three factors; nature, nurture, and free will. The first part of this essay will flush out what exactly morality it and how it manifests similarly across individuals and differently across individuals. Contrariwise, I will then explain how morality manifests similarly across societies and differently across societies. Alongside presenting the information in this order, I will trace morality back to primordial times to showcase how morality has evolved and developed since then, not only from a nature-based standpoint, but also from a

Lynn Hunt’s book, Inventing Human Rights, is a breakdown of the development of human rights. According to Hunt, individual experiences of empathy were created, in the progression of the eighteenth century and empathy made it possible for the invention of human rights. In her book, Hunt, discusses many different ideas of empathy. In the introduction, Hunt asks how do the men, live in societies that are built on slavery, ever come to imagine everyone as equals? The method that permitted men to see others who were different from them as equals was empathy. Empathy can and has the ability to breakdown the biggest prejudices. There were many ways that empathy spread throughout society. The main way that empathy spread throughout the society is through

During barbaric times such as the Middle Ages, one had very little interaction with people different from themselves. Because of this, when interacting with people different than oneself, one sees others as inferior and easy to dispose of. This resulting in the death penalty for minor crimes such as stealing or disapproving of the king. By the expansion of one’s circle of empathy in modern society, people will not react in violent ways, but will be compassionate and caring to other

Smith's arrangement of moral philosophy, as outlined in his work The Theory of Moral Sentiments, is founded on the sentiment of sympathy, which, Smith maintained, provides the basis for humankind's judgments about both the legitimacy and value of individual’s actions and emotions. As Smith points out, in order to form sound judgments about the behavior of others, people must have the capacity to make judgments about their own conduct that are free of self-interest. In what is viewed as the most unique aspect of Smith's ethical hypothesis, he contended that the only way to avoid self-deception in our assessments of ourselves is to see our own actions through the eyes of an "ideal impartial spectator," a person possessed of perfect virtue who

In his first work, Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith seems to argue that sympathy is the guiding force that produces most human behavior. He writes that it is human nature to be concerned with both the wellbeing and

In Morality: An Introduction to Ethics, Bernard Williams aims to question the figure of the amoralist. The amoralist can be characterized as a person who, regardless of acknowledging the world’s claims of moral considerations, does not possess these sensitivities himself. Furthermore, the foundational values of morality, which direct—for the most part—the actions of others, do not influence the amoralist’s judgments similarly. When Williams addresses the amoralist, he wants to show how someone might be able to convince another individual who is insensitive to moral concerns to be swayed in hopes of look at morality as a way of decision-making.

The question of what constitutes morality is often asked by philosophers. One might wonder why morality is so important, or why many of us trouble ourselves over determining which actions are moral actions. Mill has given an account of the driving force behind our questionings of morality. He calls this driving force “Conscience,” and from this “mass of feeling which must be broken through in order to do what violates our standard of right,” we have derived our concept of morality (Mill 496). Some people may practice moral thought more often than others, and some people may give no thought to morality at all. However, morality is nevertheless a possibility of human nature, and a

Smith believed that societies were being motivated by passions and self-interest. Therefore, motive of morality came in to explain what is backing up the passion of human beings. The essential components of passion are self-interest and reasons. Self-interest indicated the goal of an individual wanted to achieve in a certain period of time and the reason gives explanation why this individual wanted to achieve this goal in that period of time. With these two components, Smith was able to conclude that the behaviors of individuals are motivated by reasoning. Also because of human beings are always looking for better living standard, therefore, he explained that the motive of morality is one of the keys to improve our society.