Rediscovering compassion.

There is a growing concern in our society that compassion is a dying virtue, gradually being strangled by narcissism, competition, prejudice, and revenge. Yet psychologists, philosophers, and theologians agree that compassion is at the heart of the behavior that keeps individuals, families, institutions, and societies alive, namely, caring, altruism, justice, morality, and love. This article is meant to be a step in the direction of rediscovering compassion in the light of current knowledge so that the virtue, resuscitated, will once again be seen to be alive and well in our world. To this end, the article discusses the nature, types, and development of compassion.