Many familiar with academic work in the Humanities can relate to the emptiness of some philological efforts, for in fact “nothing rests on the word itself” (10). Bloom’s arguments relate to the common usage of the word “empathy,” although he refuses to engage in philological battles: “I hate terminological arguments-nothing important rests on the specific words we use so long as we understand one another” (34).

Given the fickle nature of the research, and of the use given to it, we are left with Mr. Besides this, many studies are put into question by counter studies set on proving the first wrong.

At a certain point, a study is given to explain how the place where questionnaires and studies are carried has impact on the results: “People are more likely to vote for sales taxes that will fund education when the polling place is in a school” (160).

For instance, questionnaires provide several types of scales, but we are informed these types of scales are easily misleading as subjects can lie or be influenced by several types of conditions (nonetheless, the Baron-Cohen scale of empathy, classified as problematic, is used several times). It is not without some surprise, then, that the research used throughout the book is treated accordingly to the needs of the argument, considered at times sound proof for a belief while many times being rebuffed as inaccurate. When the returning vole was stressed, the waiting vole responded much differently - grooming its mate more and showing physiological signs of stress itself.Paul Bloom’s Against Empathy belongs to a recent trend of making the case for bold and counter-intuitive claims, usually through a huge amount of scientific and academic apparatus. Sometimes the vole that was taken away simply sat in another room in other trials, the vole received stressful tail shocks. Burkett separated prairie vole, a species known for the strength of their monogamous relationships, for short periods. And earlier this year, Emory University neuroscientist James Burkett, working with de Waal and others, showed that rodents are capable of consoling each other. You might think that consolation is so sophisticated that it only shows up in humans, but chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates do it. Consolation, the capacity and urge to respond to a distressed individual, can be thought of as the ultimate version of empathy, because you’re motivated to act - you have compassion. These children aren’t just understanding that the adults are upset they’re attempting to console them.

Rational empathy