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Compassion, Sustainable Health, and Well-being

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Good Health and Well-Being

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

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Definition

  • Compassion, sustainable health, and well-being refer to the motives and skills to be sensitive to suffering with a dedication to acquire the wisdom to address health and well-being in the long term.

  • Compassion can be defined as “a sensitivity to suffering in self and others, with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it.”

  • Callousness can be defined as an “insensitivity to suffering, with no commitment to try to alleviate it or prevent it.”

  • Cruelty can be defined as the deliberate causing of suffering for power, vengeance, or enjoyment.

Introduction

All living things are confronted by at least five dimensions of suffering inherent in the reality of life. First, is the fact we are gene-built biologically created beings vulnerable to disease, injury, decay, and death. Second, we are vulnerable to ecological sources of suffering (famines, earthquakes, and water shortages) which are likely to increase as a result of climate change. Third, we are vulnerable to economic...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby, UK

    Paul Gilbert & Jaskaran Basran

  2. Henley Business School, University of Reading, Henley-on-Thames, UK

    Tim Anstiss

Authors
  1. Paul Gilbert
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  2. Jaskaran Basran
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  3. Tim Anstiss
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Gilbert .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. International Centre for Thriving, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

  3. Center for Neuroscience & Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  4. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  5. Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökcin Özuyar

Section Editor information

  1. International Centre for Thriving, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Additional information

To appear in Encyclopaedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Good Health and Well-Being

Editor-in-Chief: Walter Leal Filho

Deputy Editors: Tony Wall, Anabela Marisa Azul, Luciana Brandli and Pinar Gökçin Özuyar

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Gilbert, P., Basran, J., Anstiss, T. (2021). Compassion, Sustainable Health, and Well-being. In: Leal Filho, W., Wall, T., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P.G. (eds) Good Health and Well-Being. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69627-0_131-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69627-0_131-1

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