Virtues Of Compassion Research Articles

Christian Perfection in Basilian Monastic Hospitals from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries

The purpose of Byzantine hospitals—whether primarily curative facilities or caring hospices—has long intrigued scholars. This paper proposes a third perspective on Byzantine hospitals, suggesting that the Basilian monastic hospitals of the fourth to sixth centuries were not merely philanthropic facilities for the sick and destitute but also centers for ascetics’ spiritual growth. Basil of Caesarea incorporated charitable actions by ascetics as essential to achieving Christian perfection within the coenobitic community, developing a theology of compassion that advocated for the purification of harmful passions like anger and pride through the virtue of compassion. In the fifth and sixth centuries, Theodosius the Cenobiarch, who founded a coenobium and hospitals in the Judean Desert, upheld Basil’s idea of the purification of the soul through compassion for the sick. Additionally, the nosokomeion (hospital) of the sixth-century Monastery of Seridos in Gaza emphasized the healing of spiritual diseases through compassion for the sick, as reflected in various epistles. Thus, Basil of Caesarea’s theology of compassion in pursuit of Christian perfection was a foundational element in the emergence and development of hospital spirituality in Christian Late Antiquity.

Ethics in Neonatal Anesthesia – A Tender Perioperative Care

Medical ethics, a set of norms and values applied to the behavior of medical care personnel, has been evolving along with the scientific and technical development in the field of neonatology, surgery, and anesthesia. Regarding the anesthetic management of a neonate, an anesthesiologist is always in an ethical dilemma. On one side, anesthesia is a necessity for surgery, and on the other hand, knowing that these interventions may have untoward or adverse effects. Autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice are the four basic principles of medical ethics, which are used in harmony with each other without any order of succession and along with virtues of compassion, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, and fairness provides an ethical decision-making framework for a tender perioperative care. Professionalism in the operating room and anesthesiologist – surgeon relationship is an integral part of the ethical concerns in neonatal anesthesia.

How similar are the Laozi and the Buddhist discourse scriptures?

ABSTRACT A third-century Chinese author remarked that Buddhist scriptures and the Laozi were similar in some ways and different in others. The aim of this article is to address the question of what led the Chinese to perceive similarities between the literature of the two traditions. It identifies and contrasts passages from both literatures, examining how they resemble each other mainly on the following three points: the body as a source of suffering, handling desires, and the virtue of compassion. The article demonstrates that the two literatures may convey apparently similar messages on these three points while, at the same time, being different in scale and depth of their treatment, as well as their importance within their respective traditions.

THE CONCEPT OF NIRVANA AND SAMSARA IN BUDDHISM AND ITS RELEVANCE IN THE PRESENT-DAY WORLD

In this paper, we shall focus on the Buddhist approach of living responsibly engaged with the world and yet, mindfully liberating oneself from selfish dispositions, consumeristic tendencies and parochial biases. We have focussed our attention to the point of understanding nirvana (the state of liberation) as the stage of transformation in a person to mindfully and compassionately engage with the Samsara (the lived experiences of the world). The focal argument in the paper is that Nirvana is present in every social, economic, cultural and political transactions of life. The Consciousness or awareness or prajña is at the grassroots of every sensation and thought we witness which is in actuality, “I” that is not constrained to any permanent individual/ego identity. Therefore, humans are agents who think, will and act, and can transform their lived situation with righteous karma by following virtues of compassion and friendliness and thinking and contemplating with a steadfast mindfulness. Buddhist precepts that guide a righteous living are rooted primarily in their doctrines of anatta and nirvana. These concepts have been delineated alongside their theory of causation (Pratityasamutpada) that explains reasons leading to suffering, and this theory is among one of the ‘four noble truths’ besides Nirvana and ethical noble path. The paper affirms that Buddhist concepts can be used as models of wisdom treatises that foster leading a life of humanistic and ethical spiritualism much needed to counter challenges fostered by the present-day world stuck with technological invasion replacing human endeavour, contagions causing pandemic and the greed to control the geo-political dynamics by some nations.

Two internal critiques for theists who oppose moral enhancement on a process virtue basis.

Some bioconservatives reject the use of biotechnology for moral enhancement while simultaneously purporting to accept standard theism and process virtue. Standard theism holds that God is a personal, omniscient, omnibenevolent, omnipotent, transcendent being. Process virtue holds that virtue can only be obtained through a specific process and not by means of biotechnological shortcuts. For example, proponents of the view may claim that the virtue of compassion cannot be achieved by taking a pill but must come about from organic life experience that involves suffering, and reflection. We describe two internal critiques that arise by combining standard theism and process virtue. The first critique arises when the process virtue view is applied to the concept of God himself. Because God is thought to have always been perfectly virtuous, it follows he did not obtain his virtue through a process. Theistic bioconservatives must either give up the notion that God has always been perfectly virtuous or give up their claim that virtue must be obtained through a particular kind of process. The second critique argues that rejecting moral enhancement on the basis of process virtue is selfish, which is a vice by the lights of all mainstream manifestations of standard theism. Process virtue is selfish because it requires prioritizing the development of one's own personal virtue over moral enhancement that will improve one's other-regarding virtues. We conclude that the combination of standard theism and process virtue does not serve as a strong basis from which to oppose moral enhancement.

John Gregory’s medical ethics elucidates the concepts of compassion and empathy

Purpose This paper draws on eighteenth-century British medical ethics to elucidate compassion and empathy and explains how compassion and empathy can be taught, to rectify their frequent conflation. Compassion in the History of Medical Ethics The professional virtue of compassion was first described in eighteenth-century British medical ethics by the Scottish physician-ethicist, John Gregory (1724–1773) who built on the moral psychology of David Hume (1711–1776) and its principle of sympathy. Compassion and Empathy Defined Compassion is the habitual exercise of the affective capacity to engage, with self-discipline, in the experience of the patient and therefore become driven to provide effective care for the patient. Empathy is the habitual exercise of the cognitive capacity to imagine the experience of patient and to have reasons to care for the patient. There are rare clinical circumstances in which empathy should replace compassion, for example, in responding to abusive patients. Because the abstract concepts of medical ethics are translated into clinical practice by medical educators, we identify the pedagogical implications of these results by setting out a process for teaching compassion and empathy. The Task Ahead Eighteenth-century British medical ethics provides a clinically applicable, philosophical response to conflation of the moral virtue of compassion and the intellectual virtue of empathy and applying them clinically.

The virtue of compassion in compassionate conservation.

The role of ethics is becoming an increasingly important feature of biodiversity conservation dialogue and practice. Compassionate conservationists argue for a prohibition of, or at least a strong presumption against, the adoption of conservation policies that intentionally harm animals. They assert that to be compassionate is to care about animals and that it is antithetical to caring for animals to intentionally harm them. Compassionate conservationists thus criticize many existing conservation practices and policies. Two things together challenge the philosophical foundation of compassionate conservation. First, compassionate conservationists ground their theory in virtue ethics, yet virtue ethics permits exceptions to moral rules, so there cannot be an in-principle prohibition on adopting intentional harm-inducing policies and practices. But not all compassionate conservationists advocate for a prohibition on intentionally harming animals, only a strong presumption against it. This leads to the second point: compassion can motivate a person to adopt a harm-inducing conservation policy or practice when doing so is the best available option in a situation in which animals will be harmed no matter what policy or practice is adopted. Combining these insights with the empirical observation that conservationists regularly find themselves in tragic situations, we arrive at the conclusion that conservationists may regularly advocate for harm-inducing policies and practices from a position of compassion. Article Impact Statement: Compassionate conservationists should accept that the virtuously compassionate person may adopt harm-causing conservation policies.

Character Strengths Profiles in Medical Professionals and Their Impact on Well-Being.

Character strengths profiles in the specific setting of medical professionals are widely unchartered territory. This paper focused on an overview of character strengths profiles of medical professionals (medical students and physicians) based on literature research and available empirical data illustrating their impact on well-being and work engagement. A literature research was conducted and the majority of peer-reviewed considered articles dealt with theoretical or conceptually driven ‘virtues’ associated with medical specialties or questions of ethics in patient care (e.g., professionalism, or what makes a good physician). The virtues of compassion, courage, altruism, and benevolence were described most often. Only a limited number of papers addressed character strengths of medical students or physicians according to the VIA-classification. Those articles showed that the VIA-character strengths fairness, honesty, kindness, and teamwork were considered most often by respondents to be particularly important for the medical profession. Available cross-sectional (time span: six years) and longitudinal (time span: three years) data regarding VIA-character strengths profiles of medical professionals were analyzed (N = 584 medical students, 274 physicians). These profiles were quite homogenous among both groups. The character strengths fairness, honesty, judgment, kindness, and love had the highest means in both samples. Noteworthy differences appeared when comparing medical specialties, in particular concerning general surgeons and psychiatrists, with the former reporting clearly higher levels of e.g., honesty (d = 1.02) or prudence (d = 1.19). Long-term results revealed significant positive effects of character strengths on well-being and work engagement (e.g., perseverance on physicians’ work engagement) but also significant negative effects (e.g., appreciation of beauty and excellence on students’ well-being). Further, hope was significantly associated both positively with physicians’ well-being and negatively with students’ work engagement, possibly indicating specific issues concerning medical education or hospital working conditions. According to the modern-day physician’s pledge, medical professionals should pay attention to their own well-being and health. Therefore, promoting self-awareness and character building among medical professionals could be a beneficial strategy.

The virtue of compassion in medical professions

The virtue of compassion in medical professions

Interpreting the Virtues of Mindfulness and Compassion: Contemplative Practices and Virtue-Oriented Business Ethics

The article aims to provide a standpoint from which to critically address two broad concerns. The first concern surrounds a naive view of mindfulness, which takes it as a given that it is a good thing to cultivate mindfulness and attendant qualities like compassion because these virtues are key to improving the quality of life and bettering effective decisionmaking within business. Yet the virtue of mindfulness has roots in religious and spiritual traditions, and the virtue of compassion is complex and contextual; neither of these virtues operate in a vacuum. Nor do they function independently from other virtues and values. Reasonable people of goodwill possessing the virtues of mindfulness and compassion in good measure, may nevertheless strongly disagree about what the compassionate, mindful thing to do is, particularly in a business setting. It is, moreover, conceivable that intensively cultivating mindfulness and compassion could lead one to reject altogether the “dog-eat dog” culture of competitive business that draws upon selective features of mindfulness meditation that lie in the corporate comfort zone yet which are not especially countercultural from a religious or spiritual vantage point. The second concern is that Western virtue-based business ethics is largely confined to academic philosophical theories. As such, virtue-driven business ethics is often more centered around developing theoretical wisdom than developing “hard core” practical wisdom earned through yoga asanas, meditation, chanting, and breathing, whereas for contemplative practices the reverse is the case, with practical wisdom (“knowing how-to”) emphasized over theoretical wisdom (“knowing that”). Accordingly, the article examines prospects for cross-fertilization between, on the one hand, mindfulness and compassion interpreted as virtues in Eastern contemplative practices, and on the other hand, mindfulness and compassion as interpreted within Western virtue-oriented business ethics. Illuminating a pathway for such interpretative cross-pollination calls for an appropriate conceptual frame of reference that the article organizes around a set of interconnected themes. The first theme is that mindfulness and compassion represent key virtues within contemplative practices. This indicates a promising touchpoint between Eastern and Western traditions: their respective focus upon character, inner states, intrinsic motivation, and self-improvement toward ethicality in the world. The second theme is that such virtues in Eastern contemplative practices, as well as character traits integral to Western virtue-oriented approaches, denote contested “normative-interpretive” concepts that engage philosophical debate rather than indisputable empirical-criterial concepts that can be taken at face-value. The third theme advocates moving beyond behaviorist and neuropsychological accounts of virtue, approaching character traits of Eastern contemplative practice and Western virtue ethics through nonscientific inquiry into normative interpretive questions concerning such virtues (questions about meaning, responsibility, the nature of the self, reasons for acting). This supports debate over competing views of the nature, purpose, cultivation, and cultural context of mindfulness, compassion, and other virtues – issues arising as mindfulness enters the business management sphere -- to be conducted on normative grounds. With the background conceptual framework established, the article presents key points about the prospects for cross-fertilization between virtue ethics and contemplative practice, and why it matters, with reference to business ethics.

What Can Virtue Ethics Offer Pacifists?

Though warfare has been a popular subject of inquiry in Aristotelian virtue ethics since antiquity, pacifism has almost never been afforded sympathetic study. This paper helps to fill that lacuna by asking whether and how secular virtue ethics can provide a theory of pacifism, whether and how it might defeat some common/foreseeable objections, and what additional work needs to be done in order for virtue ethicists to provide a philosophically robust account of pacifism. I begin by translating a pacifist argument from suffering into an argument from the virtue of compassion. Compassionate agents, sensitive as they are to others’ plights, will be highly averse to lethal warfare. In the second section, I argue that cases for pacifism like this one, which are rooted in individual virtues, cannot constitute a complete argument for pacifism because of the commonly held view that the virtues are reciprocal/unified, and that such an argument will therefore require supplementation in order to be action-guiding. The third section elaborates on what I call the impracticality objection. Any convincing account of pacifism will have to respond to this objection, and I argue that virtue ethical pacifism is especially vulnerable to it. In the fourth section, I highlight two avenues available to the virtue ethicist who defends pacifism from the impracticality objection. Neither of these avenues is viable without further research, however, so while I insist that virtue ethical pacifism is not defeated by the impracticality objection, I maintain also that this form of pacifism requires further scholarly work.

Buddhism and animal ethics

AbstractThis article provides a philosophical overview of some of the central Buddhist positions and arguments regarding animal welfare. It introduces the Buddha's teaching of ahiṃsā or nonviolence and rationally reconstructs five arguments from the context of early Indian Buddhism that aim to justify its extension to animals. These arguments appeal to the capacity and desire not to suffer, the virtue of compassion, as well as Buddhist views on the nature of self, karma, and reincarnation. This article also considers how versions of these arguments have been applied to address a practical issue in Buddhist ethics; whether Buddhists should be vegetarian.

Enacting the Violent Imaginary: Reflections on the Dynamics of Nonviolence and Violence in Buddhism

In this paper, I explore the complex ethical dynamics of violence and nonviolence in Mahāyāna Buddhism by considering some of the historical precedents and scriptural prescriptions that inform modern and contemporary Buddhist acts of self-immolation. Through considering these scripturally sanctioned Mahāyāna ‘case studies,’ the paper traces the tension that exists in Buddhist thought between violence and nonviolence, outlines the interplay of key Mahāyāna ideas of transcendence and altruism, and comments on the mimetic status and influence of spiritually charged texts. It is the contention of this paper that violent scriptural metaphors can create paradigms of enactment that are paradoxically illustrative of the core ‘non-violent’ Mahāyāna virtues of compassion (karuṇā), giving (dāna), patience (kṣānti), and vigor (vīrya). The discussion will show that these virtues are underpinned by the Mahāyāna philosophical mainstays of non-duality (advayavāda), bodhisattvic transcendent altruism, skillful means (upāya), and dependent co-origination (pratītyasamutpāda).

Humility and humanity: Machiavelli's rejection and appropriation of a Christian Ideal

Though Machiavelli is famous for advising the mere ‘appearance’ of certain Christian and classical virtues (P XVIII), Machiavellian virtù inherits the legacy (though neither the content nor the telos) of the Christian virtue of humility, a virtue that is not present in pagan Roman accounts of heroism. I am not contending that Machiavelli is a Christian nor that he is continuing a Christian principle. Rather, I am asserting in this article that Machiavelli secularises the distinctly Christian virtue of humility, particularly in its affinity with the virtue of compassion, and that this is particularly true in his Discourses on Livy. To demonstrate how this is so, I compare Machiavelli's treatment of the Roman hero Brutus in the Discourses on Livy to the retelling of the life of Rome's liberator in Augustine's City of God.

Empathy as the Only Hope for the Virtue of Compassion and as Support for a Limited Unity of the Virtues

Empathy as the Only Hope for the Virtue of Compassion and as Support for a Limited Unity of the Virtues

Engineering Compassion: The Institutional Structure of Virtue

AbstractThis paper offers a constructive critique of a recent account, in this journal, of the place of compassion as a virtue within social policy. The critique suggests that the ‘compassion thesis’ collapses into an account of duty rather than virtue, and that compassion as a virtue can only be exercised by individuals, and not by institutions. The paper goes on to suggest an alternative account of the relationship between social policy institutions and the virtue of compassion. It develops a broadly Humean account of ‘sympathy’ triggered by proximity to distress. In this alternative account, social policy is used to create the background conditions in which individuals are moved, and able, to exercise the virtues of sympathy and compassion. Special attention is paid to housing and mixed communities policy as a means of creating the social proximity that may underpin a welfare culture of understanding rather than blame.

Monastic martyrs of compassion: murdered Trappist monks in Algeria and the different meanings of martyrdom

This article explores different dimensions of martyrdom by analysing the case of a group of murdered Trappist monks in Algeria in 1996. The monks had remained in their monastery, although they were threatened by terrorism and advised to leave the country. Monastic stability became the leading principle of their life and death, and opened the space to develop the virtue of compassion directed to all groups present in their surroundings, radically. To be able to understand this martyrdom of compassion, the author analyses the representation of the fate of the monks in the movie Of Gods and Men (2010). Furthermore, monastic practices that guarantee stability and compassion are analysed from the perspective of monastic and ritual studies. The aim is a contribution to the understanding of practices contributing to the development of virtues in monastic life that have both, humanitarian and religious relevance.

Buddhist Ethics and End-of-Life Care Decisions

Buddhism has grown in the United States in the past 50 years. Immigrants come following long traditions. American converts are more eclectic. The first Buddhist precept prohibiting harm to living things, the virtue of compassion, and the goal of a peaceful death provide guidance for ethical decision making regarding organ donation, withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, voluntary cessation of eating, physician aid in dying, and euthanasia. Concepts and views from three Buddhist traditions and views of master practitioners are presented. Case examples illustrate some of the differences within Buddhism. Suggestions for social workers are provided.

Mentoring Profession Part II: Mentoring as a Paradigm for Teaching Medicine

Professionalism is the basis of medicine’s contract with society, demanding that physicians focus on patient welfare, respect for autonomy, and social justice while meeting standards of competency and integrity in service provision. Medical students are frequently confronted with conflicting ideas regarding the profession of medicine that stem from inconsistencies between didactic lessons and clinical observations of mentors and practitioners. Teachers and mentors bear the most significant responsibility for the character traits infused in students and residents in their charge. However, a multidisciplinary approach is vital to shape student intellect and skill in such a way that humanistic ideals dominate interactions with future patients. There have been broad efforts over the last several years to ensure that professionalism remains the core of medical training and education. Institutions and national professional organizations alike are responding to the separation of medical practice from its core virtues of compassion, humility, honesty, and courage.

Compassion in Contemporary Social Policy: Applications of Virtue Theory

AbstractCurrent academic debate in the social sciences and humanities is revisiting the role of virtue in civic life. This debate is relevant to social policy. We argue that virtue is already an implicit component of policy debates, but that the virtue of compassion has not received sufficient emphasis. To support our argument we review classical and contemporary arguments regarding virtue and its linkage to the ‘good society’; articulate the necessity of compassion and its application to specific policies areas (e.g., domestic violence, welfare, emergency care); and assess how compassion intersects with other virtues in the policy environment. Policy implications are identified including: recognition of the realities of suffering, the need for sufficient administrative infrastructure and trained professionals and an often long-term commitment to work in community settings. Weighing the risks, and the overall challenges of virtuous action, our analysis suggests compassion remains a compelling, yet under-utilised, basis for constructing and implementing policies.