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Compassion as the Highest Ethic

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Book cover Practitioner's Guide to Ethics and Mindfulness-Based Interventions

Part of the book series: Mindfulness in Behavioral Health ((MIBH))

Abstract

Ethics are governing principles that help guide people or groups when making moral decisions, judgments, or when engaging in actions. We draw upon our ethical principles when attempting to address some of the most complicated decisions in our lives, for example in health care when dealing with difficult matters such as assisted suicide or with terminally ill patients. Indeed, many modern professions (e.g., doctors, psychologists) have ethical codes to ensure that members engage in behaviors, which are seen as being the human ideal that recognizes the integrity, dignity, and the justice of the individuals and the situation. In this chapter, we posit that compassion might be the foundation principal necessary in making ethically wise decisions. To support this premise, we will first define compassion, and how it can be understood in terms of evolutionary function, physiological processes, and brain functioning. We will then examine the benefits of compassion and how this links with ethics. Finally, we will discuss specific interventions that aim to cultivate compassion and how these might offer hope for individuals and society in making ethically wise decisions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia

    James N. Kirby PhD & Stanley R. Steindl PhD

  2. The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    James N. Kirby PhD & James R. Doty MD

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  1. James N. Kirby PhD
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  2. Stanley R. Steindl PhD
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  3. James R. Doty MD
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Correspondence to James R. Doty MD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Lynette M. Monteiro

  2. University of Washington, Tacoma, Washington, USA

    Jane F. Compson

  3. Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Frank Musten

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Kirby, J.N., Steindl, S.R., Doty, J.R. (2017). Compassion as the Highest Ethic. In: Monteiro, L., Compson, J., Musten, F. (eds) Practitioner's Guide to Ethics and Mindfulness-Based Interventions . Mindfulness in Behavioral Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64924-5_10

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