Traditions of compassion : from religious duty to social activism / Khen Lampert.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lampert, Khen.

Series:

Library of philosophy and religion (Palgrave (Firm))

Library of philosophy and religion

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Compassion.

Compassion--Religious aspects.

Physical Description:

xx, 203 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Summary:

Compassion - the ability to be aware of the pain of others and an inclination to act to relieve that pain - is a universal phenomenon. Throughout history, compassion has underpinned the radical cry to change the world order and remedy injustice. But it has also been a political tool for society's power-wielders, who have exploited the sense of calling that compassion arouses to hide the repressive, belligerent, and manipulative nature of society's power structure.

This book analyses four theoretical models, each representing a type of compassion manifest in different cultures and periods: divine compassion, characterizing the monotheistic traditions; universal compassion, which characterizes the Buddhist tradition; human natural compassion, prevalent in modern thought; and radical compassion, the proposed alternative, with its imperative to take action for social change. The book examines the presence of these models in the underlying infrastructure of religion or culture, or as part of the ideological mood of a specific era, structuring the analysis around different texts, biblical scriptures, and commentaries, the Buddhist Pali Canon and classic translations of Mahayana Buddhism, and philosophical texts and commentaries from the modern period.

Contents:

Part I Divine Compassion

1 The Compassionate God 3

2 Human Divinity 25

3 Seeds of Anti-compassion 45

Part II Universal Compassion

4 Indiscriminate Compassion 65

5 The Buddhist Ideal 85

6 Compassion Without Teeth 104

Part III Human Compassion

7 The Fragmentation of Compassion 123

8 Compassion Revisited 150.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1403985278

OCLC:

60671873

Publisher Number:

9781403985279 (hbk.)