COMPASSION AND ATTACHMENT: A COMPARISON OF MAX SCHELER AND THERAVĀDA BUDDHISM

This paper will explore how the concept of compassionis understood by the Western phenomenological traditionof Max Scheler, in contrast to how it is understoodby Theravāda Buddhism. In the Western traditionthe distinctions and connections between ‘empathy,’‘sympathy’ and ‘compassion’ involve considerations aboutmorality and ethical theory. Max Scheler combines hisphenomenology with psychological approaches to considerhow one individual can relate to the mental states of anotherother individuals. Scheler, distinguishes between empathyand sympathy to avoid the need to experience another’ssuffering directly. This distinction is made in TheravādaBuddhism, where emotional contagion is understood asa form of attachment. But Scheler unlike Buddhism, stillemphasizes the autonomous subject of phenomenologywhich is central to ethical action. Central to TheravādaBuddhism is the recognition of suffering and dealingwith the feelings that arise. The individual sheds theirattachments and this leads to a wholesome kamma, as statedin the first of the Four Noble Truths. So the TheravadaBuddhist tradition focuses on the alleviation of sufferingnot only in the mind of the individual but of humanity ingeneral. Since Theravāda Buddhism stresses non-self, thismoves it beyond Scheler’s approach. This approach to compassion is not one of ‘feeling with’ or ‘suffering with’another specific individual, but one that actively addresseshuman suffering in general