Brilliantly argued, urgent and humane, 'Against Empathy' overturns widely held assumptions to reveal one of the most profound yet overlooked sources of human conflict. Guiding us expertly through the experiments, case studies and arguments on all sides, Paul Bloom ultimately shows that some of our worst decisions - in charity, child-raising, criminal justice, climate change and war - are motivated by this wolf in sheep's clothing. Empathy therefore biases us in favour of individuals we know while numbing us to the plight of thousands. As the latest research in psychology and neuroscience shows, we feel empathy most for those we find attractive and who seem similar to us and not at all for those who are different, distant or anonymous. Empathy in a relationship is not actually a good thing either. By the end of the book the reader will likely feel the need to. While Against Empathy is only around 250 pages, it lays out its case succinctly and effectively.

If I have a strong sense of empathy, it means I tend to always let others’ feelings overwhelm me, and that’s probably not a good thing for my emotional and mental health. Against Empathy by Paul Bloom (Book Review) I first heard Paul Bloom’s contrarian arguments against the intrinsic moral value of empathy on Sam Harris’ podcast about a year ago. Far from helping us to improve the lives of others, empathy is a capricious and irrational emotion that appeals to our narrow prejudices. But while it inspires care and protection in personal relationships, it has the opposite effect in the wider world. Empathy is actually not good for personal well-being. In Against Empathy, Bloom reveals empathy to be one of the leading motivators of inequality and immorality in society. We think of empathy - the ability to feel the suffering of others for ourselves - as the ultimate source of all good behaviour. Summary: In a divided world, empathy is not the solution, it is the problem a source of prejudice, not kindness.

Against empathy review