Why your empathy can t scale up to save the world
The rules for behaving well in a society arguably depend on the size of that society. The structures, institutions and even the logic behind human co-operation change along the axes of space, population, and time. From camping trips to climate change conferences, IDEAS examines why scale matters so much to conversations about the common good.
Social Sharing
The rules for behaving well in a society arguably depend on the size of that society, says philosopher
CBC Radio ·
Posted: Apr 09, 2021 5:42 PM ET | Last Updated: April 9
Getting along on a camping trip is fundamentally different from how citizens co-operate in large societies. And global cooperation is a different game entirely. Philosopher Joseph Heath argues scale changes the logic of common good.(Shutterstock / anatoliy gleb)