Moral sentiments come first; moral principles second.”

. To act out of duties legislated by reason is thought to have greater moral worth than acting on the basis of feeling or sentiment. Yet as Frans de Waal observes, echoing David Hume and Adam Smith: “Aid to others in need would never be internalized as a duty without the fellow-feeling that drives people to take an interest in one another. Moral sentiments came first; moral principles second.”

Empathy is the basic cognitive and emotional capacity underlying all the moral sentiments and emotions one can have for another