Why are we able to put ourselves into someone else’s shoes? Is it really possible that we put aside our immediate interests and benefits just for the survival and wellbeing of another (human) being? In light of notions of cooperation and reciprocity cherished among primatologists and neuropsychologists (in bridging animals and humans; nature and culture), this course explores the value of our genuinely motivated altruistic behavior in our life and work. It engages with several issues: (1) how we can extend our sympathetic and empathetic attitude of working to things, stories and characters that either disgust us or fail to persuade us on the first encounters; (2) how our emotions and agent-specific traits may enable us to achieve flexibility and independence with our judgments; (3) how we can widen our horizons so as to regain our connections (or partnerships) with oddities, ambiguities and monstrosities.