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The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society

Frans de Waal

Hardcover | Pages: 304 pages

Rating: 3.98 | 1866 Users | 165 Reviews

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Original Title:	The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
ISBN:	0307407764 (ISBN13: 9780307407764)
Edition Language:	English

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"An important and timely message about the biological roots of human kindness."
—Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape

Are we our brothers' keepers? Do we have an instinct for compassion? Or are we, as is often assumed, only on earth to serve our own survival and interests? In this thought-provoking book, the acclaimed author of Our Inner Ape examines how empathy comes naturally to a great variety of animals, including humans.

By studying social behaviors in animals, such as bonding, the herd instinct, the forming of trusting alliances, expressions of consolation, and conflict resolution, Frans de Waal demonstrates that animals–and humans–are "preprogrammed to reach out." He has found that chimpanzees care for mates that are wounded by leopards, elephants offer "reassuring rumbles" to youngsters in distress, and dolphins support sick companions near the water's surface to prevent them from drowning. From day one humans have innate sensitivities to faces, bodies, and voices; we've been designed to feel for one another.

De Waal's theory runs counter to the assumption that humans are inherently selfish, which can be seen in the fields of politics, law, and finance, and which seems to be evidenced by the current greed-driven stock market collapse. But he cites the public's outrage at the U.S. government's lack of empathy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a significant shift in perspective–one that helped Barack Obama become elected and ushered in what may well become an Age of Empathy. Through a better understanding of empathy's survival value in evolution, de Waal suggests, we can work together toward a more just society based on a more generous and accurate view of human nature.

Written in layman's prose with a wealth of anecdotes, wry humor, and incisive intelligence, The Age of Empathy is essential reading for our embattled times.

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Title	:	The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
Author	:	Frans de Waal
Book Format	:	Hardcover
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 304 pages
Published	:	September 22nd 2009 by Crown (first published January 1st 2009)
Categories	:	Science. Nonfiction. Psychology. Animals. Sociology. Philosophy. Anthropology

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Ratings: 3.98 From 1866 Users | 165 Reviews

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Frans de Waal and Tanja Singer - The book "The Age of Empathy" is a light in the dark - there is no justification treating another living creature in contemptuous ways. Tanja Singer proves that empathy can be trained and learned and become part of our thinking and acting. We do not need to treat others badly to have personal gain. A very worthwhile thought, giving us hope that there is indeed a way to improve ourselves and make life more peaceful.

This is the second book by Frans de Waal that I read, and I like his work so much that he is fast becoming one of my favorite non fiction writer. He is very good at writing about animals, and the research that is being done into their behavior, a subject that Im quite interested in. He does it with a lot of anecdotes, and lot of reference to scientific research, in a writing style that is never dry. In this book he is looking into animal emotions, but there is a twist. This book is written in

After the Xmas 06 tsunami, European psychologists flocked to the sites in an attempt to help survivors with their PTSD.They discovered that talking with afflicted people one-on-one was in fact INCREASING their stress, further isolating them from their social responsibility.They eventually realized they had to treat villages as a whole as the social unit, facilitating their taking care of each other, rather than helping individuals.Because we forgot that our happiness is heavily dependent on that

I read this for our "science book club" meeting, and we all agreed that this book was not up to snuff. It was like they sat the author down in a comfy chair and said "Just start talking, we'll put your ramblings together into a book." There was not structure or framework to the book -- no overriding thesis (other than maybe "empathy is good, chimps have empathy, people should be more empathetic" -- so it was difficult to pull apart and analyze his arguments. He doesn't present enough scientific

You've got to love a book about primates that has chapter headings with quotes by Adam Smith and Immanuel Kant. And that's why this book is so exceptional, it makes you reconsider what is so special about our species in the first place and whether the Western concept of human exceptionalism is even a healthy trait to begin with.Are concepts of justice, equality and empathy really glorious creations of the enlightenment or are they simply labels for phenomena that occur across the animal kingdom?

I loved this book, and it was an interesting contrast to read it immediately after another popular-consumption book by a biologist (which I didn't like), "Why We Run" by Bernd Heinrich. Frans de Waal comes across as warm, engaging, the kind of guy who would be welcome at your dinner party. I laughed aloud at his somewhat odd Dutch humor a couple of times. His little hand-drawn sketches are also a charming touch.The subject matter, of course, is what interested me in the first place, and I wasn't

The Age of Empathy: Natures Lessons for a Kinder Society By Frans de WaalThe Age of Empathy is an interesting look at human empathy and what it can teach us how in becoming a better society. Dutch/American biologist with a Ph.D. in zoology and ethology and author of Our Inner Ape and others, Frans de Waal, takes the reader on a journey of empathy and its long evolutionary history. This provocative 306-page book includes the following seven chapters: 1. Biology, Left and Right, 2. The Other