Locke and Compassion

This chapter presents the core thought behind the larger argument of the book by appealing to John Locke’s theory of ideas, according to which some ideas have the distinctive epistemic goodness of resembling qualities in their objects. While Locke believed that only ideas of certain physical qualities had this goodness, it is argued here that Locke’s views imply that it is also had by certain compassionate states. The moral significance of this is illustrated using a case in which one person is pained by the suffering of an injured wombat while another person is amused. The former person intuitively seems morally better and also, on the Lockean view, has a reaction that resembles a quality in its object, since pain resembles pain. It is shown that the Lockean view can help address some potential objections to this conclusion about compassion.