Compassion as the Cure

In Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Among Men, the world-renowned philosopher differentiates a man of society from a brute of the state of nature by the human's ability to feel compassion. It is this sense that allows us to rise above all other species, and to form civil society. I definitely agree with Rousseau's claim; it is the empathy and sadness we experience upon seeing one of our kind suffer that prompts us to react in a non-violent and peaceful way. When I see a homeless man on the street, I definitely feel a pang of pity for him, and feel the need to help him out. Animals and "savages" do not react in this way.

After understanding Rousseau's statement, I still had some lingering questions-- if this sense of compassion is what causes us to come together to build a unified society, and avoid a state of nature full of violence and fending for one's self, why can't we employ this same feeling as a motivation to come together with societies we tend to differ with? In just this past week, war unravelled in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine, two parties that have been in opposition since they were both established. Airstrikes on both nations, by both nations, have spiraled out of control, with multiple attacks occurring per day.

The tension between these two groups lies in religion, as Palestine does not feel that Israel is entitled to even exist. That being said, the groups definitely have their fair share of differences. But why can't our shared sense of compassion conquer, and bring these groups together? When an Israelite sees an article like this, is their reaction along the lines of "Oh, they are Palestinian, so they deserve it," or "Jeeze, is my country really doing this?" Gory pictures and death tolls have never stopped humans from pursuing war, so does this lack of compassion mean that in some sense, humans have regressed to their old ways of their state of nature?

I wouldn't quite go that far. While writing this post, I was immediately reminded of this famous picture from Vietnam, taken by Huynh Cong Ut in 1972. While anti-war protests had been going on way before this picture was released in the States, this shot prompted people of all schools of thought to question our presence in Southeast Asia. The media had a field day with this photograph, using it and reusing it to follow the story of the "Napalm Girl," also known as Phan Thi Kim Phuc. News sources, such as the New York Times, published story after story about the innocent girl who had been the victim of a "misdirected Napalm attack." This photo individualized the war-- it was no longer between the United States and the Viet Cong, this was the United States attacking innocent people. It inspired a new sense of compassion within Americans that pushed harder for the end of the war. In this case, Rousseau's idea that compassion is what launches us out of a state of nature, prevails.

Rousseau does say that a man is more concerned with defending himself than he is with attacking another. If this is true, I think it sheds a lot of light on the issues persisting between Israel and Palestine, and many other conflicts for that matter. Perhaps self defense requires more agression today than it did in Rousseau's time. At the end of the day, maybe Israel is simply trying to defend its self through attacking its opponents. While it sounds somewhat contradictory of Rousseau's original thoughts, I think it is simply a modern spin on his claims about our raw state of nature.