Embracing the Other

by Oliner, Pearl M.; Oliner, Samuel P.; Baron, Lawrence (CON)

• ISBN13: 9780814761755
• ISBN10: 0814761755
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-12-01
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

Intelligently addresses several of the most important unresolved issues and controversies about altruism.-The Journal of PoliticsAll but buried for most of the twentieth century, the concept of altruism has re-emerged in this last quarter as a focus of intense scholarly inquiry and general public interest. In the wake of increased consciousness of the human potential for destructiveness, both scholars and the general public are seeking interventions which will not only inhibit the process, but may in fact chart a new creative path toward a global community. Largely initiated by a group of pioneering social psychologists, early questions on altruism centered on its motivation and development primarily in the context of contrived laboratory experiments. Although publications on the topic have been considerable over the last several years, and now represent the work of representatives from many disciplines of inquiry, this volume is distinguished from others in several ways.Embracing the Otheremerged primarily as a response to recent research on an extraordinary manifestation of real-life altruism, namely to recent studies of non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during World War II. It is the work of a multi-disciplinary and international group of scholars, including philosophers, social psychologists, historians, sociologists, and educators, challenging several prevailing conceptual definitions and motivational sources of altruism. The book combines both new empirical and historical research as well as theoretical and philosophical approaches and includes a lengthy section addressing the practical implications of current thinking on altruism for society at large. The result is a multi-textured work, addressing critical issues in varied disciplines, while centered on shared themes.

Table of Contents

Contributors
Preface and Introduction
Preface	p. 3
Introduction	p. 6
Philosophical, Definitional, and Conceptual Issues
Introduction	p. 19
Empathy and Protest: Two Roots of Heroic Altruism	p. 22
Altruism and the Moral Value of Rescue: Resisting Persecution, Racism, and Genocide	p. 30
Rescue, Righteousness, and Morality	p. 48
Sociobiology and Moral Altruism
Introduction	p. 69
Altruism and Human Nature: Resolving the Evolutionary Paradox	p. 73
Altruism and the Evolution of Civil Society	p. 104
The Development and Enactment of Altruism
Introduction	p. 133
The Development of Altruistic Personality	p. 142
The Self in Moral Agency: Toward a Theoretical Model of the Ideal Altruistic Personality	p. 170
Self, We, and Other(s): Schemata, Distinctiveness, and Altruism	p. 194
Motivations of People Who Helped Jews Survive the Nazi Occupation	p. 213
Predicting Prosocial Commitment in Different Social Contexts	p. 226
Helping in Late Life	p. 253
Embracing the "Outsider"
Introduction	p. 279
The Question of Altruism during the Armenian Genocide of 1915	p. 282
The Dutchness of Dutch Rescuers: The National Dimension of Altruism	p. 306
The Role of Polish Nuns in the Rescue of Jews, 1939-1945	p. 328
Political Altruism: A Case Study	p. 335
Promoting Altruistic Bonds
Introduction	p. 363
Promoting Extensive Altruistic Bonds: A Conceptual Elaboration and Some Pragmatic Implications	p. 369
The Origins of Caring, Helping, and Nonaggression: Parental Socialization, the Family System, Schools, and Cultural Influence	p. 390
Altruism among Alcoholics	p. 413
Altruism and Extensivity in the Baha'i Religion	p. 420
Altruism in the Socialist World	p. 433
Index	p. 455
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