Concepts of empathy, sympathy and compassion are often confused in a variety of literatures. This article proposes a pattern-theoretic approach to distinguishing compassion from empathy and sympathy. Drawing on psychology, Western philosophy, affective neuroscience, and contemplative science, we clarify the nature of compassion as a specific pattern of dynamically related factors that include physiological, cognitive, and affective processes, relational/intersubjective processes, and motivational/action tendencies. We also show that the dynamic nature of the compassion pattern is reflected in neuroscientific findings, as well as in compassion practice. The pattern theory of compassion allows us to make several clear distinctions between compassion, empathy, and sympathy.

The pattern theory of compassion / Gallagher, Shaun; Raffone, Antonino; Aglioti, Salvatore M.. - In: TRENDS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES. - ISSN 1364-6613. - (2024).

The pattern theory of compassion

Shaun Gallagher
;
Antonino Raffone;Salvatore M. Aglioti
2024

Abstract

Concepts of empathy, sympathy and compassion are often confused in a variety of literatures. This article proposes a pattern-theoretic approach to distinguishing compassion from empathy and sympathy. Drawing on psychology, Western philosophy, affective neuroscience, and contemplative science, we clarify the nature of compassion as a specific pattern of dynamically related factors that include physiological, cognitive, and affective processes, relational/intersubjective processes, and motivational/action tendencies. We also show that the dynamic nature of the compassion pattern is reflected in neuroscientific findings, as well as in compassion practice. The pattern theory of compassion allows us to make several clear distinctions between compassion, empathy, and sympathy.
2024
compassion, empathy, sympathy, emotion, compassion training
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
The pattern theory of compassion / Gallagher, Shaun; Raffone, Antonino; Aglioti, Salvatore M.. - In: TRENDS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES. - ISSN 1364-6613. - (2024).
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1731783
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