http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/03/empathy-sociopathy-and-psychopathy/476235/ The problem with those who are devoid of empathy is that, although they may recognize what’s right, they have no motivation to act upon it. Where empathy really does matter is in our personal relationships. Nobody wants to live like Thomas Gradgrind—Charles Dickens’s caricature utilitarian, who treats all interactions, including those with his children, in explicitly economic terms. Empathy is what makes us human ; it’s what makes us both subjects and objects of moral concern. Empathy betrays us only when we take it as a moral guide . Two other recent books, “The Empathic Civilization” (Penguin), by Jeremy Rifkin, and “Humanity on a Tightrope” (Rowman & Littlefield), by Paul R. Ehrlich and Robert E. Ornstein, make the powerful argument that empathy has been the main driver of human progress , and that we need more of it if our species is to survive .
