ABSTRACT
Martha Nussbaum defined compassion as a moral compass. The authors of this chapter take this idea as a starting point and its logical corollary that compassion should be cultivated, not blocked by communication practices—including corporate persuasive communication, public relations, and lobbying. The text explores the need to adopt a critical stance towards what the authors call lobbying against compassion—defined as the lobbying activities that try to influence policy-making and society in order to further business interests based on animal exploitation, and therefore preventing natural compassion towards other animals from flourishing in humans. To this end, the role of compassion as a strong motivator for prosocial behaviours is examined, as discussed in philosophy and social psychology. The authors then discuss the role of persuasion and influence in the case of compassion towards nonhuman animals and conclude by encouraging the use of persuasion not for blocking but rather for promoting compassion towards nonhuman animals.
