Empathy Quotient

[AFTT47]

I disagree. Bloom (as far as I can see) is arguing for revenge which I personally see as depraved. Please correct me if you believe Bloom is arguing for something different.

He's arguing AGAINST revenge. He's saying revenge is motivated be empathy. Did we read the same thing?

I agree, revenge is completely and utterly depraved and immoral.

Okay, I guess we are on the same page, then. I am drunk as I write this so perhaps I misread him.

The argument that revenge is actually motivated by empathy; hmmmm. I never considered that. It seems counter-intuitive. It would require that a person has a very selective empathy - empathy for the victim but not for the perpetrator but I suppose that is definitely plausible.

So empathy could go both ways. It might make me more sympathetic to the perpetrator while it makes someone else more sympathetic towards the supposed victim. In both cases, we suffer from emotional bias because of empathy.

Well, you just made a good case for empathy having no place in a fair court room.

Still, I find it hard to quarrel with someone whose heart goes out to someone who has suffered an injury and is in pain. I believe we are less worthy of survival if we don't feel such sympathy. What good is an entity who is driven by nothing but cold logic?