A Common Humanity

"A Common Humanity: Thinking about Love and Truth and Justice is a book about how the humanity of our fellow human beings is sometimes not fully visible to us." "Drawing on the examples of the Holocaust, the David Irving Affair, the case of Mary Bell and the taking of children of mixed blood from Aboriginal parents in Australia, Raimond Gaita examines the reasons for this. Amongst them, he argues, are a moralistic conception of morality that runs deep in our culture and an impoverished conception of reason and understanding. Both encourage a false opposition between moral judgement and compassion and between head and heart." "Essential and compelling reading for anyone interested in what makes an ethical society, A Common Humanity shows how philosophy can illuminate pressing moral issues none of us can afford to ignore."--Jacket.