Description
Book SynopsisIn this sweeping new interpretation of the history of civilization, bestselling author Jeremy Rifkin looks at the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has shaped our development-and is likely to determine our fate as a species.
Today we face unparalleled challenges in an energy-intensive and interconnected world that will demand an unprecedented level of mutual understanding among diverse peoples and nations. Do we have the capacity and collective will to come together in a way that will enable us to cope with the great challenges of our time?
In this remarkable book Jeremy Rifkin tells the dramatic story of the extension of human empathy from the rise of the first great theological civilizations, to the ideological age that dominated the 18th and 19th centuries, the psychological era that characterized much of the 20th century and the emerging dramaturgical period of the 21st century. The result is a new social tapestry-The Empathic Civilization-woven from a w
Trade Review
"A brilliant read ... that boldly challenges the conventional view of human nature embedded in our educational systems, business practices, and political culture."
Huffington Post
"The kind of reading fans of Jared Diamond and Richard Dawkins can sink their teeth into, with a contagious sense of urgency over whether we can 'reach biosphere consciousness and global empathy in time to avert planetary collapse.'"
Publishers Weekly
"A thoroughly entertaining read."
Socialist Unity
"Many in the scholarly, religious, and political fields praise Jeremy Rifkin for a willingness to think big, raise controversial questions, and serve as a social and ethical prophet."
New York Times
Rifkin is "one of the leading big-picture thinkers of our day."
Utne Reader
"Rifkin poses real questions that we've spent too little time thinking about."
Washington Post
Table of ContentsContents
Introduction
1. The Hidden Paradox of Human History
I. Homo Empathicus
2. The New View of Human Nature
3. A Sentient Interpretation of Biological Evolution
4. Becoming Human
5. Rethinking the Meaning of the Human Journey
II. Empathy and Civilization
6. The Ancient Theological Brain and Patriarchal Economy
7. Cosmopolitan Rome and the Rise of Urban Christianity
8. The Soft Industrial Revolution of the Late Medieval Era
and the Birth of Humanism
9. Ideological Thinking in a Modern Market Economy
10. Psychological Consciousness in a Postmodern Existential
World
III. The Age of Empathy
11. The Climb to Global Peak Empathy
12. The Planetary Entropic Abyss
13. The Emerging Era of Distributed Capitalism
14. The Theatrical Self in an Improvisational Society
15. Biosphere Consciousness in a Climax Economy
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
