Why Empathy Matters: The Science and Psychology of Better Judgment. This item is unavailable.Why Empathy Matters: The Science and Psychology of Better Judgment

A road map to empathic and efficient decisions and policies, constructed from new insights in the science of human judgment

Faced with another's suffering, human beings feel sympathy and may even be moved to charity. However, for all our good intentions and vaunted free will, we are lousy at making the bigger decisions that actually improve lives. Why? Drawing on his sweeping and innovative research in the fields of psychology, behavioral economics, and neuroscience, philosopher and cognitive scientist J. D. Trout explains how our empathic wiring actually undermines the best interests of individuals and society. However, it is possible to bridge this "empathy gap" and improve our decision-making. Here, Trout offers a tantalizing proposal- how to vault that gap and improve the lives of not just ourselves but the lives of everyone all around the world.

J.D. Trout is a professor of philosophy and adjunct professor of the Parmly Sensory Sciences Institute at Loyola University in Chicago. He has held fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities. His previous books include Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment, Measuring the Intentional World, and The Theory of Knowledge. He lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife and two children.