Compassion: A dialogue with M. Nussbaum and E. Levinas

Abstract

The following article presents a comprehension of compassion from the perspective of two contemporary philosophers: M. Nussbaum and E. Levinas. After exposing their main ideas on the subject, the author intends a dialogue between neo-Aristotelian philosophy and the philosophy of alterity on compassion, presenting her own critical balance. From a theory of emotions such as Nussbaum’s «upheavals of thought» and the Levinasian «meta-ethics» on unlimited responsibility for the vulnerable other, each author’s approach on compassion is elaborated as an essentially human and humanizing characteristic.