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Article: The idea of compassion: The British vs. the French Enlightenment.
- Article from:
- The Public Interest
- Article date:
- September 22, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The National Affairs, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE "politics of compassion" has become a term of derision. Applied by conservatives to liberals, it suggests a soft-hearted and, worse, soft-minded approach to social problems, in which sentiment prevails over reason, intentions over results, and "feeling good" over "doing good." There is some justice in that criticism, but also some evasion of the real issue. For if the politics of compassion in its familiar sense is faulty, compassion itself, as a principle of social relationships and behavior, is not. Indeed, it is the basis of a serious social ethic with an honorable lineage. Going back at least to ancient Judaism and Christianity, it has come down to us in that ...