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G. Franck:
"Compassion and the Economy of Self-Esteem";
Talk: Einsteinforum, Postdam: Zivilisationsbruch mit Zusachauer. Gestalten des Mitgefühls, Potsdam; 2004-12-09 - 2004-12-11.

Beings able to feel are naturally born egoists. No sentient being has ever sensed feelings different from its own. It is only through judging others by our own standards that we have access to alien feelings. This is why compassion seems to be an acquired, indirect and thus typically week feeling. On the other hand, the feelings of others are the most powerful objects our feelings are concerned with. We cannot help to react on the feelings shown to us. We are punished by bad conscience when hurting the feelings of others. Nor is compassion just the opposite of self-love. The self-love we can afford heavily depends on the feelings of love and esteem we are shown. Hence, both conscience and conceit make us care of the feelings of others.

My talk will be on this delicate mixture. Since feelings are value judgements, the feelings addressing other feelings cannot help to give rise to some kind of economy when assuming sophistication by way of networking into society. This economy harbours potentials of growth and hazard that only now, after having developed into a sophisticated economy of attention, can be appraised.