June, 2009

Concluding Remarks

by Robert Wright
The Conversation
June 25th, 2009

Thanks yet again to all three respondents for a stimulating discussion. I’m sure my closing comments won’t do justice to your closing contributions, but I’ll try to respond to the most salient points.
I’m delighted to hear Richard Joyce agree that we all tend to form a negative image of threatening people and a positive image [...]

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Distinguishing Friends from Enemies

by Richard Joyce
The Conversation
June 24th, 2009

All sorts of things can affect one’s tendency to like or dislike other individuals. Some are unexpected. A subliminal hint of lemon odor can influence one’s evaluation of a stranger’s likeability (Li et al. 2007). Inducing a feeling of disgust–by placing a dirty kleenex nearby, for example—can boost the severity of a negative moral judgment [...]

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Compassion and Aggression

by Jonathan Sheehan
The Conversation
June 24th, 2009

Adam Smith once commented that people, “though naturally sympathetic, feel little for another, with whom they have no particular connection, in comparison of what they feel for themselves.” He was onto something there.  No doubt, as Wright suggests, it is much more difficult to think sympathetically about scholar A, whose theories and ambitions recklessly threaten [...]

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