Embracing the Other : : Philosophical, Psychological, and Historical Perspectives on Altruism / / Pearl Oliner, Samuel P. Oliner, Lawrence Baron, Lawrence Blum.

• HerausgeberIn: Baron, Lawrence,; Blum, Lawrence,; Oliner, Pearl,; Oliner, Samuel P.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [1992]; ©1992
• Year of Publication: 1992
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (476 p.)
• Notes: Papers presented at the conference, Theoretical and social implications of rescuing people in extreme situations: another look at altruism, held in Radziejowice, Poland, in June 1989.

All but buried for most of the twentieth century, the concept of altruism has re-emerged in this last quarter as a focus of intense scholarly inquiry and general public interest. In the wake of increased consciousness of the human potential for destructiveness, both scholars and the general public are seeking interventions which will not only inhibit the process, but may in fact chart a new creative path toward a global community. Largely initiated by a group of pioneering social psychologists, early questions on altruism centered on its motivation and development primarily in the context of contrived laboratory experiments. Although publications on the topic have been considerable over the last several years, and now represent the work of representatives from many disciplines of inquiry, this volume is distinguished from others in several ways.Embracing the Other emerged primarily as a response to recent research on an extraordinary manifestation of real-life altruism, namely to recent studies of non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during World War II. It is the work of a multi-disciplinary and international group of scholars, including philosophers, social psychologists, historians, sociologists, and educators, challenging several prevailing conceptual definitions and motivational sources of altruism. The book combines both new empirical and historical research as well as theoretical and philosophical approaches and includes a lengthy section addressing the practical implications of current thinking on altruism for society at large. The result is a multi-textured work, addressing critical issues in varied disciplines, while centered on shared themes.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Contributors -- Preface -- Introduction -- Introduction -- 1. Empathy and Protest: Two Roots of Heroic Altruism -- 2. Altruism and the Moral Value of Rescue: Resisting Persecution, Racism, and Genocide -- 3. Rescue, Righteousness, and Morality -- Introduction -- 4. Altruism and Human Nature: Resolving the Evolutionary Paradox -- 5. Altruism and the Evolution of Civil Society -- Introduction -- 6. The Development of Altruistic Personality -- 7. The Self in Moral Agency: Toward a Theoretical Model of the Ideal Altruistic Personality -- 8. Self, We, and Other(s): Schemata, Distinctiveness, and AI truism -- 9. Motivations of People Who Helped Jews Survive the Nazi Occupation -- 10. Predicting Prosocial Commitment in Different Social Contexts -- 11. Helping in Late Life -- Introduction -- 12. The Question of Altruism during the Armenian Genocide of 1915 -- 13. The Dutchness of Dutch Rescuers: The National Dimension of Altruism -- 14. The Role of Polish Nuns in the Rescue of Jews, 1939-1945 -- 15. Political Altruism: A Case Study -- Introduction -- 16. Promoting Extensive Altruistic Bonds: A Conceptual Elaboration and Some Pragmatic Implications -- 17. The Origins of Caring, Helping, and Nonaggression: Parental Socialization, the Family System, Schools, and Cultural Influence -- 18. Altruism among Alcoholics -- 19. Altruism and Extensivity in the Baha'i Religion -- 20. Altruism in the Socialist World -- Index