Empathy is the capacity to recognise or understand another's state of mind or emotion. An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings thoughts and behaviours It is often characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes", or to in some way experience the outlook or emotions of another being within oneself. It may be described metaphorically as an emotional kind of resonance or mirroring. In Physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to Oscillate at maximum Amplitude at certain frequencies, known as the system's

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Discussion 3 Contrasting empathy with other phenomena 4 Empathic development 4.1 Neurological basis 4.2 Lack of empathy 4.3 Empathy and autism spectrum disorders 5 Practical issues 5.1 Empathic methods 5.2 Empathic accuracy 5.3 Ethical issues 5.4 Intense Empathy 6 Disciplinary approaches to empathy 6.1 Empathy and psychotherapy 6.2 Empathy and evolutionary psychology 6.3 Empathy and education 6.4 Empathy and animals 6.5 Empathy and fiction 6.6 Empathy and history 6.7 Empathy and moral theory 6.8 Empathy and music 7 Notable theorists of empathy 8 See also 9 References 10 Bibliography 11 External links

Etymology

The English word empathy is derived the Greek ἐμπάθεια (empatheia), "physical affection, passion, partiality" and that from ἐν (en), "in, at" + πάθος (pathos), "feeling"^[1]. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Pathos (ˈpeɪːθɒs ( πάθος) is one of the three Modes of persuasion in Rhetoric (along with Ethos and Logos) The term was adapted by Theodore Lipps to create the German word Einfühlung ("feeling into") from which the English term is then more directly derived. Theodor Lipps ( 28 July 1851 in Wallhalben – 17 October 1914 in Munich) was a German Philosopher ^[2]

Discussion

Since empathy involves understanding the emotions of other people, the way it is characterised is derivative of the way emotions themselves are characterised. An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings thoughts and behaviours If for example, emotions are taken to be centrally characterised by bodily feelings, then grasping the bodily feelings of another will be central to empathy. On the other hand, if emotions are more centrally characterised by combinations of beliefs and desires, then grasping these beliefs and desires will be more essential to empathy.

Furthermore, a distinction should be made between deliberately imagining being another person, or being in their situation, and simply recognizing their emotion. The ability to imagine oneself as another person is a sophisticated imaginative process. However the basic capacity to recognize emotions is probably innate and may be achieved unconsciously. The term intrinsic denotes a characteristic or property of some thing or action which is essential and specific to that thing or action and which is wholly independent Yet it can be trained, and achieved with various degrees of intensity or accuracy.

The human capacity to recognize the bodily feelings of another is related to one's imitative capacities, and seems to be grounded in the innate capacity to associate the bodily movements and facial expressions one sees in another with the proprioceptive feelings of producing those corresponding movements or expressions oneself. Proprioception (ˌproʊpriːəˈsɛpʃən PRO -pree-o-SEP-shun from Latin proprius, meaning "one's own" and perception is the Sense Humans also seem to make the same immediate connection between the tone of voice and other vocal expressions and inner feeling. See neurological basis below.

There is some debate concerning how exactly the conscious experience (or phenomenology) of empathy should be characterized. The basic idea is that by looking at the facial expressions or bodily movements of another, or by hearing their tone of voice, one may get an immediate sense of how they feel (as opposed to more intellectually noting the behavioral symptoms of their emotion). ^[3] Though empathic recognition is likely to involve some form of arousal in the empathiser, they may not experience this feeling as belonging to their own body, but instead likely to perceptually locate the feeling 'in' the body of the other person. Alternatively the empathiser may instead get a sense of an emotional 'atmosphere' or that the emotion belongs equally to all the parties involved.

More fully developed empathy requires more than simply recognizing another's emotional state. Since emotions are typically directed towards objects or states of affairs, the empathiser may first require some idea of what that object might be (where object can include imaginary objects, concepts, other people, or even the empathiser). Alternatively the recognition of the feeling may precede the recognition of the object of that emotion, or even aid the empathiser in discovering the object of the other's emotion. The empathiser may also need to determine how the emotional state affects the way in which the other perceives the object. For example, the empathizer needs to determine which aspects of the object to focus on. Hence it is often not enough that the empathiser recognize the object toward which the other is directed, plus the bodily feeling, and then simply add these components together. Rather the empathiser needs to find the way into the loop where perception of the object affects feeling and feeling affects the perception of the object. The following sequence of examples identifies some of the major factors in empathising with another:

I sense that:

• Frank is feeling annoyed, (via facial, vocal or postural expression).
• Frank is feeling annoyed due to not getting what he wants, (general object of emotion).
• Frank is feeling annoyed because he missed his train, (particular object of emotion)
• Frank is feeling annoyed because he missed his train, but only by a few seconds, (focus of particular object).
• Frank is feeling annoyed because he only just missed his train and he had an important meeting to get to, (background non-psychological context).
• Frank is feeling annoyed because he only just missed his train, and he had an important meeting and because he is generally an irritable sort of person (character traits).

Contrasting empathy with other phenomena

Empathy is distinct from sympathy, pity, emotional contagion, and telepathy. Sympathy is a social affinity in which one person stands with another person closely understanding his or her feelings Pity implies tender or sometimes slightly contemptuous sorrow for one in misery or distress Emotional contagion is the tendency to express and feel Emotions that are similar to and influenced by those of others Telepathy ( Greek τηλε tele meaning "distant" and πάθεια patheia meaning "to be affected by" describes the purported transfer Sympathy is the feeling of compassion for another, the wish to see them better off or happier, often described as "feeling sorry" for someone. Compassion is a profound human Emotion prompted by the pain of others Pity is feeling that another is in trouble and in need of help as they cannot fix their problems themselves. Emotional contagion is when a person (especially an infant or a member of a mob) imitatively 'catches' the emotions that others are showing without necessarily recognising this is happening (Hatfield et al 1994). A crowd is a group of people. The crowd may have a common purpose or set of emotions such as at a political rally, at a Sports game, or during Looting Telepathy is not a psychological phenomenon, but a supposedly paranormal phenomenon, whereby emotions or other mental states can be read directly, without needing to infer, or perceive expressive clues about the other person. Paranormal is an Umbrella term used to describe unusual Phenomena or experiences that lack an obvious Scientific explanation

Pity is, "Things are bad for you, you seem as though you need help. "
Sympathy is, "I'm sorry for your sadness, I wish to help. "
Emotional Contagion is, "You feel sad and now I feel sad. "
Empathy is, "I recognise how you feel. "
Apathy is, "I don't care how you feel. "
Telepathy is, "I read your sadness without you expressing it to me in any normal way. "

Empathic development

By the age of 2, children normally begin to display the fundamental behaviors of empathy by having an emotional response that corresponds with another person. Even earlier, at one year of age, infants have some rudiments of empathy, in the sense that they understand that, just like their own actions, other people's actions have goals. ^[4]. Sometimes, toddlers will comfort others or show concern for them as early as 24 months of age. Toddler is a common term for a young Child who is learning to walk or "toddle", generally considered to be the second stage of development after infancy Also during the second year, toddlers will play games of falsehood or "pretend" in an effort to fool others, and this requires that the child know what others believe before he or she can manipulate those beliefs (Feldman, 1997).

In 1997, Douglas Olsen defined empathetic maturity as the cognitive structure that determines whether a person can feel or not feel empathy, who one feels it for and how broad a group. Differences in empathetic maturity are differences in the way a person relates self-created meaning to meaning perceived in others. Empathetic maturity provides the criteria for determining whether another will be experienced as "like me" or "different. " More inclusive criteria increase the number and diversity of others who will be perceived empathetically. The highest of the hierarchical stages of empathetic maturity is the most inclusive where all others are perceived as "like me. " (Olsen, 2001) There are three stages of empathetic maturity (Olsen, 2001; and Olsen, 1997):

Stage 1 – This most primitive pattern and not common in adults. Persons at this stage see others as fundamentally different from themselves. The rationales for another's actions, feelings, or thoughts are not experienced as having human relevance in the sense that one’s own rationales do. Those operating at this stage perceive mutuality with others concretely.

Stage 2 – People at Stage 2 hold that their rationales for behavior are valid for everyone. And so, reasons for behaviors and feelings are legitimate to the degree they coincide with the person at Stage 2. Unlike Stage 1, the Stage 2 person sees others like him or her so long as they make sense of their world the same way. Therefore, positive regard for a sufferer perceived to be participating in negative behaviors is difficult for the Stage 2 person unless the behavior is explicable from his or her point of view. An example of such negative behavior would be AIDS as the result of sex practices not condoned by the Stage 2 observer. If the Stage 2 person believes the sufferer is responsible for the behavior, he or she will have no empathy. If the Stage 2 person can detect an acceptable reason why the sufferer is not actually responsible, for example, illness resulted from blood tranfusion, beyond the sufferer's control, then empathy emerges. [Note: This "example" confuses empathy per se, being the ability to recreate in one's mind the emotional or cognitive state of mind of another being and so understand that other being, with the possible resulting sympathy/compassion a person feels towards a sufferer as a result of the empathy. Whether sympathy/compassion occurs clearly also depends on the empath's value judgments and understanding of what caused the suffering, but the empathy that allows the person to understand that suffering occurs is still present. ] Caregivers at Stage 2 who want to feel empathetic toward their patients often try to find factors that mitigate responsibility. Most of society operates at Stage 2.

Stage 3 – At this stage, mutuality occurs prior to any judgment about the person's behavior. The other is perceived as human in the same way the self is experienced, based solely on being a creator of meaning rather than on the content of the meanings created. The perception of another person as responsible for a problem no longer has the power to hinder the development of empathy. If the sufferer is seen as responsible, there is no longer any need to mitigate that responsibility as a method for allowing empathy. A hallmark of Stage 3 is a person's ability to perceive another empathetically while simultaneously and without apparent contradiction perceiving that other as responsible for problematic behavior.

Neurological basis

Research in recent years has focused on possible brain processes as concomitant with empathy (Preston & de Waal, 2002). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has recently been employed to investigate the functional anatomy of empathy (for reviews see Decety & Jackson, 2006; Decety & Lamm, 2006; deVignemont & Singer, 2006). These studies have shown that observing another person’s emotional state activates parts of the neuronal network involved in processing that same state in oneself, whether it is disgust (Wicker et al. , 2003), touch (Keysers et al. , 2004), or pain (Morrison et al. , 2004; Jackson et al. , 2005, 2006; Lamm et al. , 2007; Singer et al. , 2004, 2006).

The study of empathic neuronal circuitries was inspired by the discovery of mirror neurons in monkeys that fire both when the creature watches another perform an action as well as when they themselves perform it presents a possible neural mechanism for mapping others' feelings onto one's own nervous system. A mirror neuron is a Neuron which fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another (especially Conspecific Based on some of this work, the simulation theory of empathy has been developed. The simulation theory of empathy put forward by Rutgers philosopher Alvin Goldman attempts to explain how humans understand others' emotions and sensations

Lack of empathy

Some psychologists, psychiatrists, and other scientists believe that not all humans have an ability to feel empathy or perceive the emotions of others. Mental health professional A psychologist is a practitioner of Psychology, the systematic investigation of the mind including Behavior, Cognition, A psychiatrist (also archaically called an alienist) is a Physician who specializes in Psychiatry and is certified in treating Mental disorders A scientist, in the broadest sense refers to any person that engages in a systematic activity to acquire Knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices For instance, Autism and related conditions such as Asperger's syndrome are often (but not always) characterized by an apparent reduced ability to empathize with others. Language development. The terminology Asperger syndrome (also called Asperger's syndrome, Asperger's disorder, Asperger's or AS) is the Autism spectrum disorder (ASD The interaction between empathy and autism spectrum disorders is a complex and ongoing field of research, and is discussed in detail below.

According to recent fMRI studies^[5] the syndrome of alexithymia, a condition in which an individual is rendered incapable of recognising and articulating emotional arousal in self or others, is responsible for a severe lack of emotional empathy. Alexithymia (əˌlɛksəˈθaɪmiə from the Greek words λεξις and θυμος (literally "without words for Emotions " is a term coined by Peter ^[6] The lack of empathetic attunement inherent to alexithymic states may reduce quality^[7] and satisfaction^[8] of relationships.

According to Simon Baron-Cohen's ideas, an absence of empathy might also be related to an absence of theory of mind (i. Simon Baron-Cohen is a professor of Developmental psychopathology in the departments of Psychiatry and Experimental psychology, a Fellow of Trinity " Theory of mind " is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs intents desires pretending knowledge etc e. , the ability to model another's world view using either a theory-like analogy between oneself and others, or the ability to simulate pretend mental states and then apply the consequences of these simulations to others). Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, Graphical and or mathematical models. Again with regard to autism, not all autistics fit this pattern, and the theory remains controversial, and does not differentiate between cognitive empathy and affective empathy, nor do autistic people lack compassion. Compassion is a profound human Emotion prompted by the pain of others Francesca Happe showed that autistic children who demonstrate a lack of theory of mind (cognitive empathy) lack theory if mind for self as well as others ^[9].

In contrast, psychopaths are seemingly able to demonstrate the appearance of sensing the emotions of others with such a theory of mind, often demonstrating care and friendship in a convincing manner, and can use this ability to charm or manipulate, but they crucially lack the sympathy or compassion that empathy often leads to. Psychopathy ( is a psychological construct that describes chronic immoral and Antisocial behavior However, it has been claimed that components of circuitry involved in empathy may also be dysfunctional in psychopathy (Tunstall N. , Fahy T. and McGuire P. in: Guide to Neuroimaging in Psychiatry, Eds. Fu C et al, Martin Dunitz: London 2003). Empathy certainly does not guarantee benevolence. The same ability may underlie schadenfreude (taking pleasure in the pain of another entity) and sadism (being sexually gratified through the infliction of pain or humiliation on another person). Schadenfreude (ˈʃaːdənˌfʁɔʏ̯də) is enjoyment taken from the misfortune of someone else Sadism refers to Sexual or non-sexual gratification in the infliction of Pain or humiliation upon or by another person

Empathy and autism spectrum disorders

A common source of confusion in analyzing the interactions between empathy and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is that the apparent lack of empathy may mask at least two other underlying causes:

• Excessive sensitivity or "overwhelm," may be a cause of early learned suppression. The autism spectrum, also called autism spectrum disorders (ASD or autism spectrum conditions (ASC with the word autistic sometimes replacing autism ^[10]
• Failure to demonstrate empathy can arise from inability (or not knowing how) to express empathy to others, as opposed to difficulty feeling it, internally.

With these possible exceptions noted, one would be grossly misled to infer that individuals with ASD's are generally exceptional empathizers when, quite to the contrary, research indicates the reverse. Research suggests that many ASD individuals have a lack of theory of mind^[11] (ToM) and alexithymia (85% of those with ASD's have alexithymia),^[12] both of which conditions involve severe deficits in the individual's ability to be empathetically attuned to others. " Theory of mind " is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs intents desires pretending knowledge etc Alexithymia (əˌlɛksəˈθaɪmiə from the Greek words λεξις and θυμος (literally "without words for Emotions " is a term coined by Peter Alexithymia involves not just the inability to verbally express emotions, but specifically the inability to identify emotional states in self or others. Alexithymia (əˌlɛksəˈθaɪmiə from the Greek words λεξις and θυμος (literally "without words for Emotions " is a term coined by Peter ^[13] However, research by Rogers et al. suggests that empathy needs to be differentiated between cognitive empathy and affective empathy in people with Asperger syndrome, suggesting autistic individuals have less developed understanding of the feeling of others, but demonstrate equally much empathy when aware of others state of mind, and respond more to stress experienced by other people than non-autistic people. ^[14]

Dapretto et al. (2006) found that, relative to typically developing children, high-functioning children with autism showed reduced mirror neuron activity in the brain's inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis) while imitating and observing emotional expressions. The authors suggest this supports the hypothesis that a dysfunctional mirror neuron system may underlie the social deficits observed in autism.

Practical issues

Empathic methods

Proper empathetic engagement is supposed to help to understand and anticipate the behavior of the other. Apart from the automatic tendency to recognise the emotions of others, one may also deliberately engage in empathic reasoning. Two general methods have been identified here (e. g. Goldie 2000).

• simulate 'pretend' versions of the beliefs, desires, character traits and context of the other and see what emotional feelings this leads to;
• simulate the emotional feeling and then look around for a suitable reason for this to fit.

Empathic accuracy

Some research suggests that people are more able and willing to empathize with those most similar to themselves. In particular, empathy increases with similarities in culture and living conditions. We are also more likely to empathize with those with whom we interact more frequently (See Levenson and Reuf 1997 and Hoffman 2000: 62).

A measure of how well a person can infer the specific content of another person's thoughts and feelings has been developed by William Ickes (1997, 2003). Ickes and his colleagues have developed a video-based method to measure empathic accuracy and have used this method to study the empathic inaccuracy of maritally aggressive and abusive husbands, among other topics.

In general, there are concerns that the empathiser's own emotional background may affect or distort what emotions they perceive in others (e. g. Goleman 1996: p. 104). Empathy is not a process that is likely to deliver certain judgements about the emotional states of others. It is a skill that is gradually developed throughout life, and which improves the more contact we have with the person with whom we empathise. Accordingly, any knowledge we gain of the emotions of the other must be revisable in light of further information.

Ethical issues

It should be noted that the extent to which a person's emotions are publicly observable, or mutually recognised as such has significant social conseqences. Empathic recognition may or may not be welcomed or socially desirable. This is particularly the case where we recognise the emotions that someone has towards ourselves during real time interactions. Based on a metaphorical affinity with touch, Philosopher Edith Wyschogrod claims that the proximity entailed by empathy increases the potential vulnerability of either party. ^[15]

The appropriate role of empathy in our dealings with others is highly dependent on the circumstances. For instance, it is claimed that clinicians or caregivers must take care not to be too sensitive to the emotions of others, to over-invest their own emotions, at the risk of draining away their own resourcefulness. Furthmore an awareness of the limitations of empathic accuracy is prudent in a caregiving situation. See also Carers rights movement, Caregiving and dementia Carer (UK NZ Australian usage and caregiver (US Canadian usage are words normally

Intense Empathy

In addition to the above use, the term empathy is also used by some people to signify their heightened or higher sensitivity to the emotions and state of others. Empathy may be here conceptualised as the ability to fully "read" another person, completely translating each movement into understandable conversation. This, reportedly, can lead to both positive aspects such as a more skilled instinct for what is "behind the scenes" with people, but also to difficulties such as rapid over-stimulation, or overwhelming stress caused by an inability to protect oneself from this so-called 'pick-up'. Stimulation is the action of various agents ( stimuli) on Muscles Nerves or a sensory end organ by which activity is evoked especially the nervous Such people may for example find crowds stressful simply due to picking up what is often described as "white noise" or multiple emotions as they pass through it, a phenomenon not to be confused with agoraphobia and sometimes informally known as crowd-sickness. A crowd is a group of people. The crowd may have a common purpose or set of emotions such as at a political rally, at a Sports game, or during Looting Agoraphobia is an Anxiety disorder, often precipitated by the fear of having a Panic attack in a setting from which there is no easy means of escape A crowd is a group of people. The crowd may have a common purpose or set of emotions such as at a political rally, at a Sports game, or during Looting A recurrent theme of discussion on such websites relates to the impact upon individuals, and therefore also methods (including mental practices, emotional processes and ritual) which anecdotally can help reduce the intensity of empathic reactions to others' feelings to a more bearable level (informally called 'shielding' or emotional detachment). Emotional detachment, in Psychology, can mean two different things

Empathy in this sense is ascribed by such people to various mechanisms. These include simply more sophisticated subconscious processing of sensory cues or stronger emotional feedback than the norm, (i. Feedback is a circular causal Process whereby some proportion of a system's output is returned (fed back to the Input. e. the normal human experience but more so), and therefore fit within present models. Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, Graphical and or mathematical models. Some people, perhaps due to synesthesia, believe it instead to be a direct emotional sense or a feel for others' "energy". Synesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia or synaesthesia, plural synesthesiae or synaesthesiae)—from the Ancient Greek (syn meaning "with" The New Age religion(s) have constructed belief systems around anecdotal evidence of persons who claim to be empaths in this sense. New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature In the paranormal and some works of Science fiction and Fantasy, Empathy is described as a paranormal or psychic ability to sense the emotions of others This aspect of empathy is not clinically recognized, and someone calling themselves an "empath" usually does not intend to imply that they are gifted with any psychic ability. Psionics is the study and/or practice of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena

In general empathy may be painful to oneself: seeing the pain of others, especially as broadcasted by mass media, can cause one temporary or permanent clinical depression; a phenomenon which is sometimes called weltschmerz. "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press" Major depressive disorder, also known as major depression, unipolar depression, unipolar disorder, clinical depression, or simply depression For the Canadian Comic strip, see Weltschmerz (comic strip. Weltschmerz (from the German, meaning world-pain However, since a basic emotional understanding of others is an important pre-requisite of human relationships, subjects face a dilemma to protect oneself from the pain of empathy or seek to relate to other humans despite the potential risk of injury.

Disciplinary approaches to empathy

Empathy and psychotherapy

Heinz Kohut is the main introducer of the principle of empathy in psychoanalysis. Heinz Kohut May 3 1913 &ndash October 8 1981 is best known for his development of Self Psychology, a school of thought His principle applies to the method of gathering unconscious material. The possibility of not applying the principle is granted in the cure. For instance when you must reckon with another principle, that of reality.

Developing skills of empathy is often a central theme in the recovery process for drug addicts.

Empathy and evolutionary psychology

In evolutionary psychology, attempts at explaining pro-social behavior often mention the presence of empathy in the individual as a possible variable. Although exact motives behind complex social behaviors are difficult to distinguish, the "ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person and experience events and emotions the way that person experienced them" is the definitive factor for truly altruistic behavior according to Batson's empathy-altruism hypothesis. If empathy is not felt, social exchange (what's in it for me?) supersedes pure altruism, but if empathy is felt, an individual will help regardless of whether it is in their self-interest to do so and even if the costs outweigh potential rewards. ^[16]

Empathy and education

An important target by the method Learning by teaching (LdL) is to train systematically and in each lesson the students-empathy. In professional Education, learning by teaching (German LdL) designates a method that allows pupils and students to prepare and to teach Lessons or They have to transmit new contents to the classmates, so they have to reflect continuously on the mental processes by the other students in the classroom. This way - in addition - it is possible to develop step by step the students-feeling for group-reactions and networking.

Empathy and animals

Some students of animal behavior claim that empathy is not restricted to humans as the definition implies. Ethology ( from Greek ἦθος ethos, "character" and λόγος logos, "knowledge") is the scientific study of Animal Examples include dolphins saving humans (sympathy) from drowning or from shark attacks, and a multitude of behaviors observed in primates, both in captivity and in the wild. Dolphins are Marine mammals that are closely related to Whales and Porpoises There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. Sharks ( Superorder Selachimorpha) are a type of Fish with a full cartilaginous Skeleton and a highly streamlined body A primate is a member of the biological order Primates ( Latin: "prime first rank" the group that contains Lemurs the Aye-aye See, for instance, the popular book The Ape and the Sushi Master by Frans de Waal. Popular science book The Ape and the Sushi Master, by Frans de Waal, is an overview of Animal behavior and psychology with emphasis on Primates Frans BM de Waal, PhD (born 29 October 1948, 's-Hertogenbosch) is a Dutch Psychologist, Primatologist and Ethologist Rodents have been shown to demonstrate empathy for cagemates (but not strangers) in pain. ^[17]

Furthermore people can empathize with animals. As such, empathy is thought to be a driving psychological force behind the animal rights movement (an example of sympathy), whether or not using empathy is justified by any real similarity between the emotional experiences of animals and humans. "Animal liberation" redirects here for other uses see Animal liberation (disambiguation.

Empathy and fiction

Some philosophers (such as Martha Nussbaum) suggest that novel reading cultivates readers' empathy and leads them to exercise better world citizenship. For a critique of this application of the empathy-altruism hypothesis to experiences of narrative empathy, see Keen's Empathy and the Novel (Oxford, 2007).

In some works of science fiction and fantasy, empathy is understood to be a paranormal or psychic ability to sense the emotions of others, as opposed to telepathy, which allows one to perceive thoughts as well. Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to demonstrate the existence and causes of Psychic abilities and life after death using the Scientific method Telepathy ( Greek τηλε tele meaning "distant" and πάθεια patheia meaning "to be affected by" describes the purported transfer A person who has that ability is also called an "empath" or "telempath" in this context. Occasionally these empaths are also able to project their own emotions, or to affect the emotions of others.

Empathy and history

Some Post-Modern historians such as Keith Jenkins in recent years have debated whether or not it is possible to empathise with people from the past. Keith Jenkins is a British historiographer. Like Hayden White and other " postmodern " historiographers Jenkins believes that any historian's Jenkins argues that empathy only enjoys such a privileged position in the present because it corresponds harmoniously with the dominant Liberal discourse of modern society and can be connected to John Stuart Mill's concept of reciprocal freedom. John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 &ndash 8 May 1873 British Philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential Jenkins argues the past is a foreign country and as we do not have access to the epistemological conditions of bygone ages we are unable to empathise. Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge ^[18] The reader will not be astonished at the conclusive issue about empathy and history. Only events and their products meet or not empathy. It is impossible to forecast the effect of empathy on the future. We can pay attention to the means of language of telling events. We above checked a contemporary subject may not take part in the past. A past subject may take part in the present by the so-called historic present. If we watch from a fictitious past, can tell the present with the future tense, as it happens with the trick of the false prophecy. There is no way of telling the present with the means of the past. ^[19] The way of making the study of empathy functional is still long.

Empathy and moral theory

In research published in 2007 in the book "The Ethics of Care and Empathy," Philosopher Michael Slote introduces a theory of care based ethics that is grounded in empathy. His claim is that moral motivation does, and should stem from a basis of empathic response. He claims that our natural reaction to situations of moral significance are explained by empathy. He explains that the limits and obligations of empathy and in turn morality are natural. These natural obligations include a greater empathic, and moral obligation to family and friends, along with an account of temporal and physical distance. In situations of close temporal and physical distance, and with family or friends, our moral obligation seems stronger to us than with strangers at a distance naturally. Slote explains that this is due to empathy and our natural empathic ties. He further adds that actions are wrong if and only if they reflect or exhibit a deficiency of fully developed empathic concern for others on the part of the agent.

Empathy and music

The metaphor of musical resonance reinforces certain ideas around empathy that are often misconstrued. Gauss, suggests that, “In popular usage the idea refers to the emotional resonance between two people, when, like strings tuned to the same frequency, each responds in perfect sympathy to the other and each reinforces the responses of the other”^[20]

However, within the musical semantic universe, the better metaphor is that of overtones and undertones, by which an instrument incapable of replicating a particular frequency (pitch) a nevertheless resonate with pitches sharing certain harmonic structures. Harmonic resonance, unlike pitch replication, suggests appropriate differentiation between the two instruments, between model and beholder, while retaining a sense that some accuracy is required.

Interestingly, one Chinese translation for empathy contains the two characters not for the replication of pitch, but for harmonic resonance. This Chinese translation aligns with the forms of empathy which arise intuitively or non-cognitively.

Notable theorists of empathy

• Edith Stein: Empathy… is the experience of foreign consciousness in general^[21]

• Heinz Kohut: Empathy is the capacity to think and feel oneself into the inner life of another person. Edith Stein ( October 12, 1891 &ndash August 9, 1942) was a German-Jewish philosopher, a Carmelite nun Martyr Heinz Kohut May 3 1913 &ndash October 8 1981 is best known for his development of Self Psychology, a school of thought ^[22]

• Nancy Eisenberg: An affective response that stems from the apprehension or comprehension of another’s emotional state or condition, and that is similar to what the other person is feeling or would be expected to feel^[23]

• Roy Schafer: Empathy involves the inner experience of sharing in and comprehending the momentary psychological state of another person. Roy Schafer (born 1922 the Bronx, New York is an American psychologist and psychoanalyst who has emphasised a psychoanalytic concept of Narrative. ^[24]

• D. M. Berger: The capacity to know emotionally what another is experiencing from within the frame of reference of that other person, the capacity to sample the feelings of another or to put oneself in another’s shoes. ^[25]

• R. R. Greenson: To empathize means to share, to experience the feelings of another person. ^[26]

• Wynn Schwartz: "We recognize others as empathic when we feel that they have accurately acted on or somehow acknowledged in stated or unstated fashion our values or motivations, our knowledge, and our skills or competence, but especially as they appear to recognize the significance of our actions in a manner that we can tolerate their being recognized. "^[27]

• Carl Rogers: To perceive the internal frame of reference of another with accuracy and with the emotional components and meanings which pertain thereto as if one were the person, but without ever losing the "as if" condition. Carl Ransom Rogers ( January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an influential American Psychologist and among the founders of the Thus, it means to sense the hurt or the pleasure of another as he senses it and to perceive the causes thereof as he perceives them, but without ever losing the recognition that it is as if I were hurt or pleased and so forth. ^[28]

• Jean Decety: a sense of similarity in feelings experienced by the self and the other, without confusion between the two individuals. Jean Decety is a neuroscientist and an internationally recognized expert in Social neuroscience. ^[29]

• Martin Hoffman: An affective response more appropriate to another's situation than one's own. Martin Hoffman is currently serving as a professor of Psychology at New York University (NYU ^[30]

See also

Affect display Charisma Compersion Introjection Psychology Antisocial personality disorder

Folk psychology Theory of mind Emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence tests Emotional competence Intercultural competence

John D. Mayer Marshall Rosenberg Peter Salovey Daniel Goleman Machiavellian intelligence Spatial empathy

References

Bibliography

• Austin, J. L. (1979). 'Other Minds'. In Philosophical Papers. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 76-116.
• Batson, C. D. , Håkansson Eklund, J. , Chermok, V. L. , Hoyt, J. L. , & Ortiz, B. G. (2007). An additional antecedent of empathic concern: Valuing the welfare of the person in need. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(1), 65-74.
• B. Bower "Goal-oriented brain cells: neurons may track action as a prelude to empathy" in Science News, April 30, 2005
• Corazza, Eros (2004). "Empathy, Imagination, and Reports". Chapter 7 in Reflecting the Mind - Indexicality and Quasi-Indexicality. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Currie, Greg (2004). "Anne Brontë and the uses of imagination". Chapter 9 in Arts and Minds. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Currie, Greg & Ravenscroft, Ian (2002). Recreative Minds: Imagination in Philosophy and Psychology. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Dapretto, M. et al. (2006). Understanding emotions in others: Mirror neuron dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorders. Nature Neuroscience, 9, 28-30.
• Davis, Mark H. (1996). Empathy: A Social-Psychological Approach. Westview.
• Decety, J. , & Jackson, P. L. (2004). The functional architecture of human empathy. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 3, 71-100.
• Decety, J. , & Lamm, C. (2006). Human empathy through the lens of social neuroscience. The Scientific World Journal, 6, 1146–1163.
• Feldman, R. S. (1997). Development across the life span. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Goldie, Peter (2000). The Emotions, A Philosophical Exploration. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
• Håkansson, J. , & Montgomery, H. (2003). Empathy as an interpersonal phenomenon. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20(3), 267-284.
• Hoffman, M. L. (1978), "Empathy, Its Development and Prosocial Implications", in C. B. Keasey (ed. ), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 25: 169-218.
• Hoffman, M. L. (2000), Empathy and Moral Development (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
• Ickes, W. (Ed. ) (1997). Empathic Accuracy. Guilford Press, New York.
• Ickes, W. (2003). Everyday Mind Reading: Understanding What Other People Think and Feel. Prometheus Books.
• Jackson, P. L. , Brunet, E. , Meltzoff, A. N. , & Decety, J. (2006). Empathy examined through the neural mechanisms involved in imagining how I feel versus how you feel pain: An event-related fMRI study. Neuropsychologia, 44, 752-61.
• Keen, Suzanne (2007). Empathy and the Novel. Oxford University Press.
• Lamm, C. , Batson, C. D. , & Decety, J. (2007). The neural basis of human empathy – Effects of perspective-taking and cognitive appraisal. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 42-58.
• Lampert, K. (2005); Traditions of Compassion: From Religious Duty to Social Activism. Palgrave-Macmillan; ISBN 1-4039-8527-8
• Levenson, R. W. and Reuf, A. M. (1997), "Physiological Aspects of Emotional Knowledge and Rapport", in W. Ickes (Ed. ), Empathic Accuracy (New York: Guilford), 44-72.
• Rose Rosetree (2001), "Empowered by Empathy". Women's Intuition Worldwide, ISBN 0-9651145-8-9.
• Stein, Edith (1917), "On the problem of empathy". ICS Publications, Washington, 1989, ISBN 0-935216-11-1
• Evan Thompson (ed. )(2001), "Between Ourselves. Second-Person Issues in the Study of Consciousness", Imprint Academic, 2001 ISBN 0 907845 14 2; Journal of Consciousness studies, 8, number 5-7, 2001 ISSN 1355 8250
• Slote, Michael (2007). "The Ethics of Care and Empathy. "

External links

• Evolutionary Aspects of Love and Empathy
• The Joys and Pitfalls of Being an Empath
• News about empathy
• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Empathy
• Empathic listening skills How to listen so others will feel heard, or listening first aid (University of California). Download a one hour seminar on empathic listening and attending skills.
• Literature about empathy Articles, books, and book chapters about empathy
• Empathy as a basic brain function (New Scientist, 2004)
• IQ is Only Half The Picture: Cultivating your Child's Emotional Intelligence
• To hear a definition of empathy given by Marshall Rosenberg (Nonviolent communication), through a parallel between empathy and surf. Nonviolent Communication (NVC is a process developed by Marshall Rosenberg and others which people use to communicate with greater Compassion and clarity
• The Empathy Symbol Just like the peace symbol, there is now an empathy symbol.
• Exploring the phenomenon of empathy Doctoral Dissertation
• Empathize Empathize promotes the use of cooperative learning in schools as well as the building of schools in Cyprus and Jerusalem for the children of opposing governments.
• The Paradox of Empathy Discussion about whether it is possible to empathize with another.
• The Swedish Empathy Center Organizes knowledge about empathy across disciplines
• Greater Good magazine article examines human empathy Articles about empathy
• Study: People Literally Feel Pain of Others - mirror-touch synesthesia Live Science, 17 June 2007

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