ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the philosophical roots of compassion and how these relate to health, care and nursing. It discusses how six different philosophers from different eras explain the essence compassion and its impact on human life and human caring. The philosophers included in this chapter are: Confucius (551–479 BCE), Aristotle (384–322 BCE), David Hume (1711–1776), Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860), Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1990) and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948).
