Xunzi on Empathy: A Confucian and Biological Naturalist Viewpoint

The Biological Bases of Empathy

Human beings are intrinsically social. Our survival critically depends on social interactions with others, the formation of alliances and accurate social judgments (Cacioppo, 2002). We are motivated to form and maintain positive and significant relationships (Baumeister & Leary, 1995), and most of our actions are directed toward or are responses to others (Batson, 1990). No single factor can ac...

Was Spinoza a Naturalist?

In this article I dispute the claim, made by several contemporary scholars, that Spinoza was a naturalist. ‘Naturalism’ here refers to two distinct but related positions in contemporary philosophy. The first, ontological naturalism, is the view that everything that exists possesses a certain character (variously defined) permitting it to be defined as natural and prohibiting it from being defin...

1 Naturalist A

Effects of biological explanations for mental disorders on clinicians' empathy.

Mental disorders are increasingly understood in terms of biological mechanisms. We examined how such biological explanations of patients' symptoms would affect mental health clinicians' empathy--a crucial component of the relationship between treatment-providers and patients--as well as their clinical judgments and recommendations. In a series of studies, US clinicians read descriptions of pote...

a study on rate making and required reserves determination in reinsurance market: a simulation

reinsurance is widely recognized as an important instrument in the capital management of an insurance company as well as its risk management tool. this thesis is intended to determine premium rates for different types of reinsurance policies. also, given the fact that the reinsurance coverage of every company depends upon its reserves, so different types of reserves and the method of their calc...