Altruism and Altruistic Love

"My brief review cannot do justice to a book of this magnitude. This is a sincere and scholarly effort to build dialogue where there has been very little. Though dense, it is well written and well edited. ... There is a remarkable amount of continuity and coherence for an edited volume. For researchers on topics such as altruism, volunteering, and organizational citizenship behavior, this volume provides a rich and eclectic trove of ideas and referencematerial."--Personnel Psychology"This comprehensive overview of current research and thinking about altruism as a vital ethical concern in human affairs is must reading and valuable source material for serious students of these problems."--Theological Studies"The concept of altruism, or other-centered love and concern, continues to be a critical point of intersection for scientists, ethicists and theologians. Altruism and Altruistic Love (2002) attempts to address the variety of approaches to this multidisciplinary issue. Stephen Post, a Science & Theology News columnist, and colleagues offer profound and inspiring essays that explore the way we think about human altruisticbehavior."--Science & Theology News"My brief review cannot do justice to a book of this magnitude. This is a sincere and scholarly effort to build dialogue where there has been very little. Though dense, it is well written and well edited. ... There is a remarkable amount of continuity and coherence for an edited volume. For researchers on topics such as altruism, volunteering, and organizational citizenship behavior, this volume provides a rich and eclectic trove of ideas and referencematerial." --Personnel Psychology"This comprehensive overview of current research and thinking about altruism as a vital ethical concern in human affairs is must reading and valuable source material for serious students of these problems."--Theological Studies"The concept of altruism, or other-centered love and concern, continues to be a critical point of intersection for scientists, ethicists and theologians. Altruism and Altruistic Love (2002) attempts to address the variety of approaches to this multidisciplinary issue. Stephen Post, a Science & Theology News columnist, and colleagues offer profound and inspiring essays that explore the way we think about human altruistic behavior."--Science &Theology News"Altogether, the book is a highly interesting read on diverse perspectives on the topic of altruistic love....[T]his collection of essays comes a long way in making a case for unselfish behavior that is as much grounded in cogent philosophical analysis as it is informed by modern evolutionary theory."--Human Nature Review"This book will probably be of most interest to those engaged in human and women's rights struggles and other political issues, as well as other academic philosophers. A philosophically careful, victim-centered theory of evil clearly speaks to both contemporary events and social theories, and at the core, 'The Atrocity Paradigm' is a useful and provocative starting point for this discussion." --SF Gate"This comprehensive overview of current research and thinking about altruism as a vital ethical concern in human affairs is must reading and valuable source material for serious students of these problems."--Theological Studies"The concept of altruism, or other-centered love and concern, continues to be a critical point of intersection for scientists, ethicists and theologians. Altruism and Altruistic Love (2002) attempts to address the variety of approaches to this multidisciplinary issue. Stephen Post, a Science & Theology News columnist, and colleagues offer profound and inspiring essays that explore the way we think about human altruisticbehavior."--Science & Theology News"My brief review cannot do justice to a book of this magnitude. This is a sincere and scholarly effort to build dialogue where there has been very little. Though dense, it is well written and well edited. ... There is a remarkable amount of continuity and coherence for an edited volume. For researchers on topics such as altruism, volunteering, and organizational citizenship behavior, this volume provides a rich and eclectic trove of ideas and referencematerial." --Personnel Psychology"This comprehensive overview of current research and thinking about altruism as a vital ethical concern in human affairs is must reading and valuable source material for serious students of these problems."--Theological Studies"The concept of altruism, or other-centered love and concern, continues to be a critical point of intersection for scientists, ethicists and theologians. Altruism and Altruistic Love (2002) attempts to address the variety of approaches to this multidisciplinary issue. Stephen Post, a Science & Theology News columnist, and colleagues offer profound and inspiring essays that explore the way we think about human altruistic behavior."--Science &Theology News"Altogether, the book is a highly interesting read on diverse perspectives on the topic of altruistic love....[T]his collection of essays comes a long way in making a case for unselfish behavior that is as much grounded in cogent philosophical analysis as it is informed by modern evolutionary theory."--Human Nature Review

• Part 1: Definitions ; 1. The ABCs of Altruism ; 2. Pythagorean Bodies and the Body of Altruism ; 3. Morality, Altruism and Love ; 4. The Tradition of Agape ; Part 2: Human Motivation and Action ; 5. The Human Experience of Compassionate Love: Conceptual Mapping and Data from Selected Studies ; 6. Addressing the Altruism Question Experimentally ; 7. Explicating Altruism ; 8. Extraordinary Acts of Ordinary People: Faces of Heroism and Altruism ; Part 3: Evolutionary Biology ; 9. A Darwinian Naturalist's Perspective on Altruism ; 10. Relating Self, Others, and Sacrifice in the Ordering of Love ; 11. The Fall and Rise and Fall and Rise and Fall and Rise of Altruism in Evolutionary Biology ; 12. Some Obstacles to Altruism ; 13. Emerging Accounts of Altruism: "Love Creation's Final Law"? ; Part 4: The Science of Altruism ; 14. Implications for the Neurobiology of Love ; 15. A Note on the Neurobiology of Emotion ; 16. Impairment of Interpersonal Social Behavior Caused by Acquired Brain Damage ; 17. The Communication of Emotions and the Possibility of Empathy in Animals ; 18. Empathy, Evolution and Altruism ; Part 5: Religion ; 19. Science and Religion on the Nature of Love ; 20. Separation, Attachment, and Altruistic Love: The Evolutionary Basis for Medical Caring ; 21. Compassion out of Wisdom: Buddhist Perspectives from the Past toward the Human Future