Why Compassion Still Needs Hume Today

• Authors: van der Cingel Margreet
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Over the past years the relevance of compassion for society and specific practices such as in healthcare is becoming a focus of attention. Philosophers and scientists discuss theoretical descriptions and defining characteristics of the phenomenon and its benefits and pitfalls. However, there are hardly any empirical studies which substantiate these writings in specific societal areas. Besides, compassion may be in the eye of attention today but has always been of interest for many contemporary philosophers as well as philosophers in the past, David Hume amongst them. Three themes related to Hume’s hypotheses on compassion are discussed and compared to outcomes of an empirical study amongst nurses and patients with a chronic disease. This comparison gives insights into the perception of those for whom compassion is of specific importance in their daily lives and into the usefulness of Hume’s notions on compassion.

Keywords

EN

compassion; love; imagination; sympathy; pity; suffering; grief; emotion; empirical research; healthcare

• Publisher: Instytut Filozofii - Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Diametros
• Year: 2015
• Issue: Diametros 44
• Pages: 140-152

Dates

published

2015-06

Contributors

author

van der Cingel Margreet

• Windesheim University of Applied Science

References

• K. Armstrong, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, The Bodley Head, London 2011.
• A. Baart en M. Grypdonck, Verpleegkunde en presentie, een zoektocht in dialoog naar de betekenis van presentie voor verpleegkundige zorg, Lemma, Den Haag 2008.
• D.E. Cartwright, “Schopenhauer's Compassion and Nietzsche's Pity,” Schopenhauer-Jahrbuch (69) 1988, p. 557–567.
• F. De Waal, The Age of Empathy, Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society, Crown Publishing Group, New York 2009.
• K. Eriksson, “Theory of Caritative Caring,” [in:] Nursing Theorists and Their Work, A. Marriner, M.R. Alligood (eds.), Mosby Inc., Greenville, St. Louis 2005, p. 147–195.
• D. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1888.
• C. Keijsers, M. Jabbi, “Inferior Frontal Gyrus Activity Triggers Anterior Insula Response to Emotional Facial Expressions,” Emotion 2008, p. 775–780.
• G. Mannion, “Mitleid, Metaphysics and Morality: Understanding Schopenhauer's Ethics,” Schopenhauer-Jahrbuch (83) 2002, p. 87–117.
• M. Nussbaum, Upheavals of Thought, The Intelligence of Emotions, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2001.
• H. Philippse, “Hume,” [in:] De verbeelding van het denken, door Jan Bor, E. Petersma, Atlas-Contact, 2004.
• D.F. Polit, B.P. Hungler, Nursing Research Principles and Methods, 4th. edition, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia 1991.
• S. Richmond, “Being in Others: Empathy from a Psychoanalytical Perspective,” European Journal of Philosophy (12) 2004, p. 244–264.
• S.C. Rickless, “Hume's Theory of Pity and Malice,” British Journal for the History of Philosophy 21 (2) 2013, p. 324–344.
• C. Swanton, “Compassion as a Virtue in Hume,” [in:] Feminist Interpretations of Hume, A. Jacobsen (ed.), Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania 2010, p. 156–173.
• S.K. Tudor, Compassion and Remorse, Acknowledging the Suffering Other, Peeters, Leuven 2001.
• C.J.M. van der Cingel, “Compassion and Professional Care: Exploring the Domain,” Nursing Philosophy 10 (2) 2009, p. 124–136.
• C.J.M. van der Cingel, “Compassion in Care: A qualitative Study of Older People with a Chronic Disease and Nurses,” Nursing Ethics 18 (5) 2011, p. 672–685.
• C.J.M. van der Cingel, “Compassion, the Missing Link in Quality of Care,” Nurse Education Today 34 (9) 2014, p. 1253–1257.

Notes

EN

Special Topic - Justice and Compassion – Hume’s Moral Philosophy and Contemporary Practical Ethics

Identifiers

DOI

dx.doi.org/10.13153/diam.44.2015.767