Empathy has a biological basis [1]. The span of human civilization has been far too short so far for any significant evolutionary changes to have taken place, s

Empathy has a biological basis [1]. The span of human civilization has been far too short so far for any significant evolutionary changes to have taken place, so these biological elements must have existed before humans 'civilized'. It makes sense from an evolutionary perspective: a species in which the members help each other more has certain advantages to its survival compared to one completely lacking in cooperation. The time when slavery and contact between races existed is generally not considered the 'state of nature'. In pre-civilised (pre-agricultural) society, populations were so small and transportation technology so limited that it would have been quite rare for people of different races to come in contact. [1]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy#Neurological_basis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy#Neurological_basis