The Practice of Altruism: Caring and Religion in Global PerspectiveCambridge Scholars Press, 2006 - 209 pages The study of altruism and altruistic behavior has caught the attention of social scientists especially in recent years. What motivates individuals to cultivate attitudes and actions that promote the wellbeing of others at the expense of, or at the risk of negative consequences for their own? In our contemporary global society marked by conflict and violence among different sectors of the population in various regions of the world, and wherein religion can be a factor that exacerbates such conflict and violence, harnessing the power of religion towards directions of reconciliation, creativity, and altruistic action, remains a crucial task for humankind. This volume addresses a question especially relevant in our day: do people who profess religious commitment or affiliation in a particular religious community tend to nurture altruistic kinds of attitude and action more than others? Social scientists present results of their empirical studies on Japanese society, as well as on North American, European, Indian, and Thai societies, to focus on this issue and offer insightful reflections on the relationship between religion and society. |
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... acts to help them . Their actual altruistic acts also relieve themselves from their own empathetic distress . I call these kinds of motivation for altruistic acts ' the empathetic distress motivation ' . As members have been practising ...
... acts of the members of new religions may be also motivated by the quest for salvation , because the quest for salvation can produce certain consequences for practical behaviour in the world . Weber notes : a quest for salvation in any ...
... acts as a kind of local branch of the WCRP , held a meeting in Jakarta in June 2002 , and issued a statement calling ... acts of nation states since they themselves are nothing but acts of terrorism . I Tor and eligious tion of oid the ...
Contents
Altruism in New Religions in Japan | 12 |
Kamagasaki Ecumenical Network | 43 |
Japanese Buddhist Responses to Terrorism | 60 |
Copyright | |
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Other editions - View all
The Practice of Altruism: Caring and Religion in Global Perspective Ruben Lf Habito,Keishin Inaba No preview available - 2008 |