Visions of compassion Western scientists and Tibetan Buddhists examine human nature

Description: This book is about compassion: what it is, where it "fits" into our understandings of human nature, and what it could mean for science in particular to learn more about it. It is also a book about what could happen if Western biobehavioral science were to allow its thinking to be challenged by the interrogating voice of a fundamentally different culture perspective: that of Tibetan Buddhism. While there is a modest research tradition in the Western behavioral sciences concerned with altruism, prosocial behavior, the development of sympathy, empathy, and so on, the dominate note of the behavioral sciences in the West has been tragic-machismo: We find our origins in ancestors we call "killer apes," ponder our potential for violence, explore the genetic and biochemical bases of our capacity for selfishness, depression, and anxiety... -- from preface

Table of Contents: pt. 1. Historical and philosophical background. Training the mind: first steps in a cross-cultural collaboration in neuroscientific research / Zara Houshmand [and others] ; A science of compassion or a compassionate science? What do we expect from a cross-cultural dialogue with Buddhism? / Anne Harrington ; Is compassion an emotion? a cross-cultural exploration of mental typologies / Georges Dreyfus ; Kindness and cruelty in evolution / Elliott Sober ; Understanding our fundamental nature / His Holiness the Dalai Lama ; Dialogues, pt. 1: fundamental questions --
pt. 2. Social, behavioral, and biological explorations of altruism, compassion, and related constructs. Toward a biology of positive affect and compassion / Richard J. Davidson ; Empathy-related emotional responses, altruism, and their socialization / Nancy Eisenberg ; Emergency helping, genocidal violence, and the evolution of responsibility and altruism in children / Ervin Staub ; Altruism in competitive environments / Robert H. Frank ; Dialogues, pt. 2. Pragmatic extensions and applications.

Location: COLLECTION: Philosophy & Science -- AREA: Mind Science-- SECTION: Interdisciplinary / Filing name: Davidson

Topics: In TinyCat -- See "Tags" above for our libraries topic areas. See "Subjects" below for LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings) (note you can tour our library via Tags or LCSH, but LCHS are not available for all items in our holdings).

FY2004 /