Empathy

Here is an interesting article on empathy. In particular, it considers how an absence of the capacity to empathise can underpin what we judge to be morally problematic actions and attitudes. This is an ancient thought - think about the emphasis placed by Aristotle on the role of character and the emotions - and one that continues to be of interest to researchers in psychology, cognitive science and experimental philosophy. While the author, Simon Baron-Cohen, may be right to stress the importance of empathy as a being like 'universal solvent' in helping us deal with conflict, you might wonder whether the appeal to its absence is enough to explain much of what seems to be morally evil.