Higher education: A compassion business or edifying experience?

Abstract

This is an extended introduction to the book on compassion and its place in higher education. It is structured both in chapters and through them into themes. In the thinking and writing of the authors, philosophical aspects of compassion have tended to lead. The range is from the ancients such as Aristotle and Confucius to Rousseau, Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and contemporary writers such Nussbaum, Armstrong, Bilias, White and Maxwell (the latter three making contribution to this book). Given the intercultural nature of many of the contributions, the hegemony of Western thought is challenged and a wider appreciation of compassion emerges. Nested in a historical perspective, this chapter considers the institutional issue of compassion for education before introducing the content of the book.