A critical review of interdisciplinary perspectives on the paradox of prosocial compared to antisocial manifestations of empathy

2020 ◽  
pp. 053901842097694
Author(s):  
Michaela Guthridge ◽  
Paul H. Mason ◽  
Tania Penovic ◽  
Melita J. Giummarra
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Gender Politics ◽  
Social Benefit ◽  
The Other ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
Complete Understanding ◽  
Cognitive States ◽  
Different Types

Empathy is the ability to experience affective and cognitive states of another person, whilst maintaining a distinct self, in order to understand the other. It is a multidimensional phenomenon, ranging from vicarious distress to near complete understanding, with many shades in between. As an almost universal and integral human construct, empathy has been considered in many disciplines and contexts, from evolution to gender, politics, economics, ethics, human rights and neuroscience. Each of these disciplines offers a range of definitions of empathy, and provides unique insights into the role of empathy in achieving different types of social outcomes, including those with both prosocial and antisocial intentions. The conceptualization generated from interdisciplinary perspectives is important because it allows us to identify commonalities that could be mobilized synergistically to achieve greater social benefit through prosocial empathy. This review discusses the benevolent and malevolent manifestations of empathy from the perspective of social, legal and psychological sciences in order to lay the foundation for a theoretical discussion on the potential of harnessing prosocial empathy to advance equality and non-discrimination.

scholarly journals Human Enhancements and Voting: Towards a Declaration of Rights and Responsibilities of Beings

Philosophies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
S. J. Blodgett-Ford
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
The Other ◽  
First Person ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
First Person Perspective ◽  
To Come ◽  
Additional Option

The phenomenon and ethics of “voting” will be explored in the context of human enhancements. “Voting” will be examined for enhanced humans with moderate and extreme enhancements. Existing patterns of discrimination in voting around the globe could continue substantially “as is” for those with moderate enhancements. For extreme enhancements, voting rights could be challenged if the very humanity of the enhanced was in doubt. Humans who were not enhanced could also be disenfranchised if certain enhancements become prevalent. Voting will be examined using a theory of engagement articulated by Professor Sophie Loidolt that emphasizes the importance of legitimization and justification by “facing the appeal of the other” to determine what is “right” from a phenomenological first-person perspective. Seeking inspiration from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948, voting rights and responsibilities will be re-framed from a foundational working hypothesis that all enhanced and non-enhanced humans should have a right to vote directly. Representative voting will be considered as an admittedly imperfect alternative or additional option. The framework in which voting occurs, as well as the processes, temporal cadence, and role of voting, requires the participation from as diverse a group of humans as possible. Voting rights delivered by fiat to enhanced or non-enhanced humans who were excluded from participation in the design and ratification of the governance structure is not legitimate. Applying and extending Loidolt’s framework, we must recognize the urgency that demands the impossible, with openness to that universality in progress (or universality to come) that keeps being constituted from the outside.

scholarly journals Europa som utopi og dystopi hos Antonio Muñoz Molina

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (108) ◽  
pp. 92-111
Author(s):  
Hans Lauge Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
European Society ◽  
The Other ◽  
Illegal Immigrants ◽  
Cultural Identities ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
Antonio Munoz Molina ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
The Eu

Utopian and Dystopian Representations of Europe in Antonio Muñoz Molina:How does a modern European society like the Spanish one reflect upon the experience of having dead bodies of illegal immigrants washed up on the nice clean beaches prepared for English, German and Danish tourists? How do such experiences affect the dominant national discourse, which identifies itself with the EU as a global centre of modernity? How do these experiences affect the Spanish citizen’s understanding of the character of this modernity? And what kind of narratives does it take to bridge the gap between the image of the democratic, open and human-rights oriented European Community created by official discourse and these traumatizing experiences? Taking its point of departure in two books written by one of Spain’s greatest novelists, Antonio Muñoz Molina, the article aims to investigate the role of literature as an actor in the creation and negotiation of cultural identities. The hypothesis is that literary discourse has got the unique capacity to offer the reader the image of him- or herself as another and to present the other as a self through its aesthetic strategy, thereby contributing to the reader’s appropriation of textual experiences as his or her own. In this process, the different aspects of reality, the dark and brighter sides of European history and the rise of modern, globalized society become mediated and dialogized.

scholarly journals 32. Humanitarian intervention in world politics

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex J. Bellamy ◽  
Nicholas J. Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Humanitarian Intervention ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
World Politics ◽  
The Other ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
The West ◽  
Protection Goals

This chapter examines the role of humanitarian intervention in world politics. It considers how we should resolve tensions when valued principles such as order, sovereignty, and self-determination come into conflict with human rights; and how international thought and practice has evolved with respect to humanitarian intervention. The chapter discusses the case for and against humanitarian intervention and looks at humanitarian activism during the 1990s. It also analyses the responsibility to protect principle and the use of force to achieve its protection goals in Libya in 2011. Two case studies are presented, one dealing with humanitarian intervention in Darfur and the other with the role of Middle Eastern governments in Operation Unified Protector in Libya in 2011. There is also an Opposing Opinions box that asks whether the West should intervene in Syria to protect people there from the Islamic State (ISIS).

scholarly journals What Is Going on with Visual Attention in Reading and Dyslexia? A Critical Review of Recent Studies

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Conrad Perry ◽  
Heidi Long
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Reading Performance ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Visual Tasks

This critical review examined current issues to do with the role of visual attention in reading. To do this, we searched for and reviewed 18 recent articles, including all that were found after 2019 and used a Latin alphabet. Inspection of these articles showed that the Visual Attention Span task was run a number of times in well-controlled studies and was typically a small but significant predictor of reading ability, even after potential covariation with phonological effects were accounted for. A number of other types of tasks were used to examine different aspects of visual attention, with differences between dyslexic readers and controls typically found. However, most of these studies did not adequately control for phonological effects, and of those that did, only very weak and non-significant results were found. Furthermore, in the smaller studies, separate within-group correlations between the tasks and reading performance were generally not provided, making causal effects of the manipulations difficult to ascertain. Overall, it seems reasonable to suggest that understanding how and why different types of visual tasks affect particular aspects of reading performance is an important area for future research.

scholarly journals Intercultural Training: Learn to avoid treading on other people’s toes or experience walking in the other person’s shoes

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Rygg
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
The Other ◽  
Intercultural Training ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
Culture Clash ◽  
Interactive Tools ◽  
Case Work ◽  
Insight Into

This article raises the question of whether the traditional approach in intercultural training focusing on knowledge about cultural differences and skills to avoid culture clash is sufficient in order to prepare intercultural communication trainees for dynamic and psychologically demanding multicultural environments. Inspired by the concept of mentalizing in the psycho-therapeutic method called Mentalization-based treatment, training that encourages imaginatively “seeing the other from the inside and oneself from the outside” is suggested as better able to prepare for complex intercultural realities. Tolerance is seen as tolerance for being in the intercultural process as much as tolerance for others’ differences. A theoretical discussion between the notion of mentalizing in mentalization-based treatment and perceptions of empathy, imagination and mindfulness further provides insight into the role of interactive tools such as case work and role plays in intercultural training. These, in turn, are seen as best suited to fulfil the goals and ambitions of the theories. However, experiences gained from them must be verbalized in order to cause increased awareness.

The ‘Iukos Affair’. The Russian Judiciary and the European Court of Human Rights

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence A. Groen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Undue Influence ◽  
European Court ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
Structural Nature ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights

This note analyzes the functioning of the Russian judiciary on the basis of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgments in the cases of OAO Neftianaia Kompaniia Iukos and three of the company’s former leading executives, Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovskii, Platon Leonidovich Lebedev and the late Vasilii Aleksanian. The analysis turns to the breaches by the Russian state of Articles 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial) and 18 (permissible restrictions to the rights guaranteed) of the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as established by the Court in the aforementioned cases, and the role of the Russian judiciary therein. In light of the fundamental flaws and structural nature characterizing the violations found, the conclusion is reached that the Russian judiciary (still) appears not to be entirely free from undue influence by the other branches of government.

scholarly journals Centuries of Transition

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Class Struggle ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
Important Work ◽  
Slave Rebellions ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Mode Of Production

AbstractThis review of Chris Wickham’s Framing the Early Middle Ages situates the book within the context of his earlier writings on the transition to feudalism, and contrasts his explanation for and dating of the process with those of the two main opposing positions set out in Perry Anderson’s Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism (1974) and Guy Bois’s The Transformation of the Year One Thousand (1989). Although Framing modifies some of Wickham’s earlier positions, it largely sidesteps explicit theoretical discussion for a compellingly detailed empirical study which extends to almost the entire territorial extent of the former Roman Empire. The review focuses on three main themes raised by Wickham’s important work: the existence or otherwise of a ‘peasant’-mode of production and its relationship to the ‘Asiatic’ mode; the nature of state-formation and the question of when a state can be said to have come into existence; and the rôle of different types of class-struggle - slave-rebellions, tax-revolts and peasant-uprisings - in establishing the feudal system.

scholarly journals The Role of Memory in the Perception of the Screen Image

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 96-105
Author(s):  
Vitaly Fyodorovich Poznin
Keyword(s):  
Human Memory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Screen Image ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Artistic Image ◽  
Psychology Of Art

The article investigates one of the aspects of psychology of art, namely, the role of different types of human memory — sensory, long-time, short-time — in the forming of an artistic image in the perception of an audiovisual entity. The audience’s perception of such specific cinematic methods as pan shot and dolly shot, as well as different types of parallel, associative and distance montage rests on the peculiarities of our short-time and long-time memory. On the other hand, the complex polyphonic combination of various visual chronotopes in modern films is based on the imitation of memory typical for our dreams.

scholarly journals The position of victims in Serbia: Criminal procedure and possibilities of restorative justice

Temida ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesna Nikolic-Ristanovic ◽  
Sanja Copic
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Support Service ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Victim Support ◽  
The One ◽  
The Way

In the paper, the authors deal with the victim"s position in the criminal procedure, on the one hand side, and the possibilities of implementing restorative justice and its importance for the improvement of victim"s position in Serbia, on the other one. In the first part of the paper, the authors point out victim"s position within the criminal procedure and the noticed gaps, which are particularly reflected in insufficient paying attention to the victim and neglecting of his/her rights and needs. This is opposite to the strengthening of the rights of the accused party that characterizes societies, which are, as our society, on the way of democratization and improvement of human rights. In the second part of the paper, the authors analyze some solutions that introduce elements of restorative justice into our system of criminal response to crime, but from the victim"s point of view. Finally, the authors also point out some further steps that should be undertaken in order to improve the victim"s position, particularly emphasizing the place and role of victim support service, witness service and special facilities in the courts for victims/witnesses, possibilities of using victim-offender mediation before reporting the crime, or staring the prosecution, or as a part of the treatment in the prison etc.

scholarly journals Poverty as a Political Choice: a Comparative Analysis of Reports of the UN Rapporteur’s Visits to the UK and Spain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Cummins ◽  
Emilio José Gómez-Ciriano
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis paper presents a comparative analysis of two reports by the UN Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, one for Spain and one for the UK. In both countries, austerity policies were introduced following the banking crisis of 2008. The UN Rapporteur reports highlight the damage that was done by welfare retrenchment. In particular, the reports document the impact of austerity on the most vulnerable individuals and communities. The paper uses Somers' (2008) conceptual model of citizenship as the basis for a comparative analysis of two reports. Somers' (2008) model of citizenship is a triadic one which sees the state, market and civil society as competing elements. Each one can serve to regulate and limit the influence or excesses of the other two. Somers argues that neoliberalism has seen the dominance of the market at the expense of the role of the state and the institutions of civil society. Austerity policies saw the market dominating. Having examined the context of the two reports and their conclusions, the paper discussed the implications for individual social workers’ practice and the role of social work as a profession in tackling poverty and marginalisation.

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