An Early History of Compassion
Cambridge University Press, 9/30/2017
EAN 9781107146266, ISBN10: 1107146267
Hardcover, 300 pages, 23.5 x 15.7 x 2 cm
Language: English
In this book, Françoise Mirguet traces the appropriation and reinterpretation of pity by Greek-speaking Jewish communities of Late Antiquity. Pity and compassion, in this corpus, comprised a hybrid of Hebrew, Greek, and Roman constructions; depending on the texts, they were a spontaneous feeling, a practice, a virtue, or a precept of the Mosaic law. The requirement to feel for those who suffer sustained the identity of the Jewish minority, both creating continuity with its traditions and emulating dominant discourses. Mirguet's book will be of interest to scholars of early Judaism and Christianity for its sensitivity to the role of feelings and imagination in the shaping of identity. An important contribution to the history of emotions, it explores the role of the emotional imagination within the context of Roman imperialism. It also contributes to understanding how compassion has come to be so highly valued in Western cultures.
Introduction
1. Between power and vulnerability
2. Found in translation
3. Within the fabric of society
4. Bonds in flux
5. In dialogue with the Empire
Conclusion. A discourse of the other.