A Philosophy for the 21st Century: Expanding our Empathic Potential for Radical Social Change

7 Dec 2012

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In this animated representation of his talk, philosopher and author Roman Krznaric explains how we can bring about social change by stepping outside ourselves. If the 20th century was the age of introspection, then the 21st century needs to be one of "outrospection".

The ultimate art form of outrospection is empathy. Empathy is about a revolution in human relationships.

We often think of empathy as happening between two people, but it can also be a collective force that happens on a mass human scale and it is essential for social change. History is full of examples of mass empathic flowering. For example, the late 1700's bore witness to the world's first human rights movement -- a movement powered by empathy, which led to the first fair trade boycott of sugar and eventually to the abolition of the slave trade in 1807.

Empathy is about a revolution in human relationships.

© RSA Animate

You can find this page online at http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/1514.

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