Against Empathy is a thrilling book, and reading it could well make you a better person' - Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith 'I went in a sceptic and emerged a convert. Engaging and witty, learned and stim-ulating, provocative and packed with cutting-edge findings, Against Empathy is sure to start many important debates' Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother 'Despite a near consensus about the merits of empathy, Paul Bloom shows that it is often just the warm embrace of prejudice - and, like anger, a reliable source of moral confusion. It's also a pleasure to read: warm, lucid, and thought-provoking' - Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature 'I couldn't put this brilliantly argued book down.

'Brilliant, powerful, and provocative, Against Empathy is sure to be one of the most controversial books of our time' - Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness 'The title may shock, but this is a book of calm reason and expansive compassion. It demonstrates with absolute clarity that, when faced with moral decisions, we must choose reason and compassion, not empathy, as our guides. Brilliantly argued, urgent and humane, Against Empathy overturns widely held assumptions to reveal one of the most profound yet overlooked sources of human conflict. Guiding us expertly through the experiments, case studies and arguments on all sides, Paul Bloom ultimately reveals that some of our worst decisions - in charity, child-raising, criminal justice, climate change and war - are motivated by this wolf in sheep's clothing. Empathy therefore biases us in favour of individuals we know while numbing us to the plight of thousands. As the latest research in psychology and neuroscience shows, we feel empathy most for those we find attractive and who seem similar to us and not at all for those who are different, distant or anonymous. But while it inspires care and protection in personal relationships, it has the opposite effect in the wider world. We think of empathy - the ability to feel the suffering of others for ourselves - as the ultimate source of all good behaviour. In a divided world, empathy is not the solution, it is the problem a source of prejudice, not kindness. Print Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion

Rational empathy