The Science of Sympathy: Morality, Evolution, and Victorian Civilization

Rob Boddice

The Science of Sympathy: Morality, Evolution, and Victorian Civilization
Format
Paperback
Publisher
University of Illinois Press
Country
United States
Published
11 November 2016
Pages
198
ISBN
9780252082054

The Science of Sympathy: Morality, Evolution, and Victorian Civilization

Rob Boddice

In his Descent of Man, Charles Darwin placed sympathy at the crux of morality in a civilized human society. His idea buttressed the belief that white, upper-class, educated men deserved their sense of superiority by virtue of good breeding. It also implied that societal progress could be steered by envisioning a new blueprint for sympathy that redefined moral actions carried out in sympathy’s name. Rob Boddice joins a daring intellectual history of sympathy to a portrait of how the first Darwinists defined and employed it. As Boddice shows, their interpretations of Darwin’s ideas sparked a cacophonous discourse intent on displacing previous notions of sympathy. Scientific and medical progress demanded that cruel practices like vivisection and compulsory vaccination be seen as moral for their ultimate goal of alleviating suffering. Some even saw the so-called unfit–natural targets of sympathy–as a danger to society and encouraged procreation by the fit alone. Right or wrong, these early Darwinists formed a moral economy that acted on a new system of ethics, reconceptualized obligations, and executed new duties. Boddice persuasively argues that the bizarre, even dangerous formulations of sympathy they invented influence society and civilization in the present day.

This item is not currently in-stock. It can be ordered online and is expected to ship in approx 4 weeks

Our stock data is updated periodically, and availability may change throughout the day for in-demand items. Please call the relevant shop for the most current stock information. Prices are subject to change without notice.

Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.