INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (IJSS)
The Empathetic Eve: A Neurophilosophical Origin Story of Compassion
E-ISSN: 7885-4322
P-ISSN: 9347-2192
DOI: https://iigdpublishers.com/article/1291
Compassion is an evolutionary, moral force that is a necessary output of vertebrate evolution and that vertebrates, including humans, exhibit it as a result of suffering for one and others. It predates the Anthropocene, and is engrained in the emergent properties of the vertebrate brain, particularly through the evolution of the oxytocin pathway in the mesolimbic system. I suggest it can be cultivated and enhanced but is entrenched in our genetics and epigenetics as a response to help relieve suffering from oneself and others. Here, I present an origin story for the role of compassion across all species.
Curt Anderson
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