The Language of Compassion (Carrie Kinney) (9-16-12)

“Think” and “thank” come from the same root word. “Thought-provoking” is more positive than “provocative.” According to Dumbarton’s Carrie Kinney, who holds a Ph.D in Sociolinguistics, language choices can shape our compassion (or lack thereof).

“The Ancients saw compassion as an EMOTION, not as VIRTUE,” she said. For Montesquieu, it had to do with helping others to promote “commerce”; for his student Rousseau, it meant kindness for the sake of “equality.” Nietzsche considered it a “distraction.”

At adult ed, Kinney described instances of compassionate and non-compassionate language in public discourse, and Dumbartonian Kathryn Johnson concluded the session with examples like these from “Guidelines for Authentic Advocates”*:

• Be passionate;
• Be honest about who you are;
• Call people by their name;
• Do not speculate on others’ motives;
• Be committed to truth;
• Assume children are watching.

--By Ginny Finch