Wonderfully humane, lucid and entertaining ... a brave and necessary tract for the times * Telegraph *
A great, provocative book ... that will legitimately change how you think about the world and your own sense of morality * The New York Times *
Bloom dismantles the argument that empathy is the basis of all morality ... Empathy, it turns out, is sentimental, superficial and racist * New Statesman *
The title may shock, but this is a book of calm reason and expansive compassion. It's also a pleasure to read: warm, lucid, and thought-provoking -- Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature
I couldn't put this brilliantly argued book down. Engaging and witty, learned and stim ulating, provocative and packed with cutting-edge findings,
Against Empathy is sure to start many important debates * Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother *
Despite a near consensus about the merits of empathy, Paul Bloom shows that it is often just the warm embrace of prejudice - and, like anger, a reliable source of moral confusion.
Against Empathy is a thrilling book, and reading it could well make you a better person -- Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith
I went in a sceptic and emerged a convert ... one of the most thought-provoking, and ultimately convincing, books I've read in a long time -- Maria Konnikova, author of The Confidence Game
Brilliant, powerful, and provocative, Against Empathy is sure to be one of the most controversial books of our time
-- Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness
Bloom's point is a good one ... In a time of post-truth politics, his book offers a much-needed call for facts * Economist *
A deliberately maverick work - astringent, provocative, often witty and unabashedly against a prevailing culture ... I am staunchly with Bloom -- Salley Vickers * Guardian *
A brilliant, witty, and convincing defence of rational generosity against its pain-feeling detractors. Read this book and you will never think about empathy, goodness, or cold- blooded reason the same way again * Larissa MacFarquhar, author of Strangers Drowning *
Plaudits to Bloom for speaking up, not only against the overemphasis on empathy, but also in favour of reason
. Bloom takes readers on a stimulating tour of current research in psychology, mixed with some older philosophy, that will educate and entertain readers. A wise and important book. -- Peter Singer, author of The Most Good You Can Do
Invigorating, relevant and often very funny * The New York Times *
An interesting and highly topical work of moral philosophy by psychologist ... about the ancient conflict between reason and emotion, science and sentiment ... an important book -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *
Compiles evidence from a range of sources to show that empathy can be innumerate, biased, parochial and inconsistent and can push us towards inaction at best and racism and violence at worst * Guardian *
Paul Bloom's wonderfully humane, lucid and entertaining demolition of the empathy-worshippers... is a brave and necessary tract for the times -- Paul Bloom * Irish Independent *
In
Against Empathy, Bloom provides a thoughtful, considered, empirically grounded case which challenges many notions that we often accept as good without really thinking them through...
Against Empathy is a wonderfully argued, provocative polemic against the trend to see empathy as an unalloyed good -- Kenan Malik * New Humanist *
