A Theoretical Foundation for Empathy Conservation: Toward Avoiding the Tragedy of the Commons Available to Purchase

Garrett Hardin pointed to the reality that often individuals with unrestrained access to the commons, e.g. an aquifer, a fishery, perhaps even the atmosphere of this spaceship Earth on which we travel together, would result in the “tragedy of the commons.” The tragedy arises from an egoistic-hedonistic based self-interest only orientation to the commons. This paper explores the role of empathy in tempering self-interest only outcomes with the other (shared with others)—interest in (empathy) conservation, as suggested by the metaeconomics framework (MEF) and dual interest theory (DIT). This suggests the real possibility for empathy conservation to avoid the tragedy in the cases of farming practices and consumer recycling behavior. The paper also gives a brief history while pointing to the current progress in the evolution toward an ever more highly developed MEF and DIT, as supported by empirical testing, pointing to how to really solve the commons problem.