Empathy and Fairness (PDF)

Empathy is the process that allows us to share the feelings and
emotions of others, in the absence of any direct emotional
stimulation to the self. Humans can feel empathy for other people
in a wide array of contexts: for basic emotions and sensation such
as anger, fear, sadness, joy, pain and lust as well as for more
complex emotions such as guilt, embarrassment and love. It has been
proposed that, for most people, empathy is the process that
prevents us doing harm to others.

Although empathy seems to be an automatic response of the brain
to others' emotional reactions, there are circumstances under
which we do not share the same feeling as others. Imagine,
for example, that someone who does the same job as you is paid
twice as much. In this case, that person might be very satisfied
with their extra salary, but you would not share this satisfaction.
This case illustrates the ubiquitous feeling of fairness and
justice.

Our sense of fairness has also become the focus of modern
economic theories. In contrast to the prominent self-interest
hypothesis of classic economy assuming that all people are
exclusively motivated by their self-interest, humans are also
strongly motivated by other-regarding preferences such as the
concern for fairness and reciprocity. The notion of fairness is not
only crucial in personal interaction with others in the context of
families, workplace or interactions with strangers, but also guides
people's behaviour in impersonal economic and political
domains.

This book brings together work from a wide range of disciplines
to explain processes underlying empathy and fairness. The expert
contributors approach the topic of empathy and fairness from
different viewpoints, namely those of social cognitive
neuroscience, developmental psychology, evolutionary anthropology,
economics and neuropathology. The result is an interdisciplinary
and unitary framework focused on the neuronal, developmental,
evolutionary and psychological basis of empathy and fairness. With
its extensive discussions and the high calibre of the participants,
this important new book is essential reading for anyone with an
interest in this topic.