The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons - Free Paper Sample

Introduction

"The Age of Empathy" by Frans de Waal is a thought-provoking book examining how Empathy occurs naturally in various animals, including humans. The author, Frans de Waal, is a well-known primatologist and addresses cooperation, social feelings, and Empathy in his book. Empathy is often regarded as a uniquely human characteristic, distinct from the rest animal in the kingdom. The way De Waal views society is fascinating because very often do researchers compares the animal kingdom to the way humans lead their lives. The author provides many examples of how humans compare to the various animal race. The main idea of “The Age of Empathy” is that humans are similar to primates and other animals in behaviors and attitudes that most people believe. By studying behavior such as conflict resolution, herd intrinsic, companionship, trusting alliances, and bonding, De Waal realizes that most species that live in groups show more human.

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De Waal's theory is a counter to the idea that humans are inherently selfish, as portrayed in law, finance competition, and politics. He, however, points out that the US government lack Empathy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The shift in the perspective helped in the election of Barack Obama, who ushered in a new Empathy age. The title "The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society" plays a significant role in defining that humans need to develop more Empathy and Empathy has been part of animal species for millions of years. De Waal states, "Empathy is part of our evolution, and not just a recent part, but an innate, age-old capacity" (205). De Waal indicates that the book is an "exciting new research about the origins of altruism and fairness in both ourselves and other animals" (5). He says that human Empathy has a long backed from an evolutionary perspective and provides the necessary cooperation needed to survive in any hostile environment. Supporting Darwinian Theory, De Waal concludes that our bonding and empathy tendency originate from our ancestral apes, for "mutualism and reciprocity as the basis of cooperation" places "chimps much closer to humans than to the social insects" (180). De Waal acknowledges that humans can recognize "unfair distribution" and act to counteract it. Thus, "Empathy builds on proximity, similarity, and familiarity, which is entirely logical, given that it evolves to promote in-group cooperation. Combined with our interest in social harmony, which requires a fair distribution of resources, Empathy put the human species on a path towards small-scale societies that stress equality and solidarity." (221) Unsurprisingly, De Waal discourses the evolutionary heritage urging the society to act like revolutionaries. On several occasions, he argues that humans need to have an ingrained sense of fairness. Furthermore, he states that humans are born revolutionaries where Thus, "empathy binds individuals together and gives each a stack in the welfare of others" (223).

Furthermore, the book further addresses the modern evolution theory, more so the notion of genetic selfishness. De Waal discusses an interview with Richard Dawkins, who was the author of The Selfish Gene. He states, "No problem calling genes' selfish' so long as it's understood that this says nothing about the actual motives of humans and animals" (40). According to the book, the "selfish" gene does not impede the altruistic and cooperative acts, instead of supporting Kropotkin's theory that cooperation is how animals survive. De Waal addresses Kropotkin by mention his book “Mutual Aid” (32-3). He claims that Kropotkin renounced his title as "the Russian Prince." De Waal characterizes Kropotkin's arguments of mutual aid to benefit all those who practice it. He also argued that cooperation is the key to survival, and "cooperative groups of animals (or humans) would outperform less cooperative ones" (33). The main argument brought forward on Kropotkin was cooperation to have the best interest in the survival of species.

Another fascinating aspect of the book is the anecdotes, which are based on long-term observation of animals' behaviors, including primates, and expanding knowledge from the various scientific literature. The book might revive scientist readers who understand the contemporary progeny shared by the animals and humans. For many readers and scientists of this subject, the main question that could arise is whether Empathy in animals works similarly to humans. However, it could be expected that humans might add a few complexities.

Societal Assumptions

A frustrating aspect of The Ages of Empathy is that the book relates to societal assumptions. Moreover, I find it ironic that scientists are working hard to refute theories that revolve in the animal kingdom, such as Darwin's theory, and accept myths in modern society. In the book, De Waal views the USA as the liberty land and Europe as the land of equality. The narration of the author makes it sound that North Atlantic is not the best place to live. De Waal uses metaphor to describe the society he lives within, by mentioning "past exchanges" and "marketplace of services" (175). Scientists are seen as products of the community they live in; thus, de Waal actions are expected. Frans de Waal asks the question of whether a "harder worker deserves to make more? This libertarian fairness ideal is quintessentially American" (196-7). It is fascinating, especially in modern society, since capitalists have created a culture where those who work more are the poorest, and those who 'make more' are doing so since others are working for them. While The Age of Empathy tries to Nurture Empathy in society, the author fails to address if the economic system require change.

Despite the erosive impact of surviving under capitalism, cooperative and uncensored legacy impacts the modern society. To achieve Empathy, the majority need to be altruistic, show sensitivity to fairness and be oriented towards collective goals. According to de Waal, the "[t]raditional economic models don't consider the human sense of fairness, even though it demonstrably affects economic decisions" (162). Equally, rather than being the aggressive animals of popular culture, warfare "conflicts at the deepest level with our humanity" (220). This is evident in the current society by comparing the propaganda aired out by warring nations.

Behavioral Sciences

The age of Empathy is a book endorsed by Oprah Winfrey to contribute to behavioral sciences. The book retorts to the mainstream of social tropes that authenticate greed, selfishness, and competition as part of the evolutionary process. De Waal uses Empathy as a mirror from which the audience can gauge how evolution influences behavior. De Waal discusses a wide range of topics such as self-recognition, corporation, and game theory, which was applied to chimpanzees, apes, cetaceans, elephants, and corvids. De Waal's main argument is that Empathy, the ability to comprehend others' emotional state, is an exceptional evolution that empowers social organisms to work cooperatively. Although de Waal wants the readers to focus on the more beautiful side of nature, he was keen not to allow readers to concentrate on the naivety of why Empathy exist.

De Waal refutes human assumptions that animals lack the "humane" characteristic. He provides evidence by citing experimental studies that challenge human Empathy and put various animal races to a closer footing with humans. From the study, De Waal state that from primates to mice, Empathy is a characteristic shown by elephants and lab rats. While the primatologist showed that apes and chimpanzees are just evolutionary creatures, he describes humans as competitive, violent, and acting on selfishly perpetuated capitalism. Throughout the book, de Waal states that the human might be saved through imitating the mammals. The ideology of Empathy is colored by fascinating anecdotes initiated through observation of animals' behaviors. He continually argues that humans need to be less selfish or greedy claiming that such behaviors are not revolutionary from animals but are patently humanmade.

Valuable Content

Although The Age of Empathy is written in a conversational style, the book is cleared styled for the comprehension of general readers and fully congested with valuable content. The book addresses what scientists understand about animal behavior and addresses cognition and how scientists obtain knowledge. Through de Waal and his collaborators, we are all introduced to various experiments that aid in understanding animal abilities, including healthy doses and persuasive and significant investigations. Through such experimental practices, the reader gains an intellectual capacity of the challenges of supplementing designs and executing tests that probe animals' behavior. De Waal uses anecdotal evidence to dawn the evidence on libertarians. The author of The Age of Empathy is also unafraid of bridging in the gap between science and society by providing readers with an insight of both Europeans and Americans, which are fascinating. The book offers distorted empirical evidence and Darwin's work, by refuting the ideas of all those who rationalize their narrow perspective to 'nature.' In other words, De Waal provides handy evidence that challenges the capitalistic, individualistic evolutionary view.

Conclusion

Other than the comparisons between humans and animals, De Waal asks, "Are we our brother's keepers"? The modern society tolerates the idea of selfishness, capitalism competition which makes Empathy between animals admirable. Empathy, an understanding of other people's feelings and emotions, seems to be short. Countries are attacking each other in the name of the peacekeeping mission and eliminating terrorism, fierce wars of oil that drive humans to a destruction point. Frans de Waal pictures humans' ideas as more competitive, and politicians need to learn from animals how to show compassion. Providing an antidote to the lack of Empathy in the current society, De Waal gives examples of selfless sacrifices, cooperation, and unforced Empathy shown by animals. The idea shared by Frans de Waal should help us construct our society. If the animals tend to be caring and all depend on mutual support, why can't the most intelligent species, humans, act the same?

Works Cited

De Waal, Frans. The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society. Three Rivers Press, 2009.