Abstract:
Inspired by the vision of care in Vincent van Gogh’s depiction of the parable of the Good
Samaritan, this article offers a paradigm for inhabiting compassion. Compassion is understood
in this article as a moral emotion that is also a pathocentric virtue. This definition creates a
dynamic view of compassion as a desire to alleviate the suffering of others, the capacity to act
on behalf of others and a commitment to sustain engagement with the suffering other. To
weave this vision of compassion as a habitus rather than a theoretical construct, the article
develops three phases of compassion: seeing, companioning and sighing. This framework
deepens and augments a pastoral theological paradigm of compassion with the aim of
inculcating an inhabited compassion in caregivers and the communities in which they
participate.
Description:
Prof. Dr Phil Zylla is
participating in the research
project, ‘Gender Studies and
Practical Theology Theory
Formation’, directed by Prof.
Dr Yolanda Dreyer,
Department of Practical
Theology, Faculty of
Theology, University of
Pretoria.