ABSTRACT This article aims to bring some understanding to the phenomenon called compassion. The use of particular linguistic expressions to denote the phenomenon of compassion in the East and West can confuse us, as those terms are embedded in unique cultural settings. This article undertakes a historical, etymological, and philosophical exploration of the terms, compassion and karuna (an Eastern equivalent of compassion). The article will include a short literature review of these concepts and an investigation of the differences and similarities between them. The concluding speculation is that the Western perspective on compassion is founded on an individualistic, self-centred vision, and the karuna of the East is founded on a communitarian, non-self based vision.

中文翻译：

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理解现象：西方同情与东方卡鲁纳人的比较研究

摘要本文旨在使人们对称为同情的现象有所了解。使用特殊的语言表达来表示东西方的同情现象会使我们感到困惑，因为这些术语被嵌入到独特的文化环境中。本文对“同情”和“ karuna”（在东方相当于同情）一词进行了历史，词源和哲学方面的探索。本文将包括对这些概念的简短文献回顾，并对它们之间的异同进行调查。结论是，西方关于同情心的观点是建立在个人主义的，以自我为中心的视野上的，而东方的karuna是建立在以社区为基础的，非自我为基础的视野上的。