In Amy Coplan & Peter Goldie (eds.), Empathy: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives. Oxford University Press. pp. 318 (2011)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
I argue that there is a blinkering effect to decency. Being a morally sensitive person, and having internalized a code of behavior that restricts the range of actions that one takes as live options for oneself, constrains
one’s imagination. It becomes harder to identify imaginatively with mportant parts of human possibility. In particular—the part of the claim that I will argue for in this chapter—it limits one’s capacity to empathize with those who perform atrocious acts.
They become alien to one. This is an obstacle to understanding many important, if awful, human actions. But it also creates obstacles to understanding some very ordinary,relatively harmless, actions. It is a problem that decent people have to grapple with. (These themes are developed further in my book *Emotion and Imagination* Polity 2013.)
|
Keywords | empathy sympathy imagination |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Buy the book |
Find it on Amazon.com
|
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
No references found.
Citations of this work BETA
Similar books and articles
In Defense of the Moral Significance of Empathy.Aaron Simmons - 2014 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 17 (1):97-111.
Beyond Sympathy and Empathy: Adam Smith's Concept of Fellow-Feeling.Robert Sugden - 2002 - Economics and Philosophy 18 (1):63-87.
Adam Smith’s Concept of Sympathy and its Contemporary Interpretations.Bence Nanay - 2010 - Adam Smith Review 5:85-105.
Empathy’s Purity, Sympathy’s Complexities; De Waal, Darwin and Adam Smith.Cor van der Weele - 2011 - Biology and Philosophy 26 (4):583-593.
Cultural Memory, Empathy, and Rape.Lisa Campo-Engelstein - 2009 - Philosophy in the Contemporary World 16 (1):25-42.
Distinctions Among Various Modes of Empathy-Related Reactions: A Matter of Importance in Humans.Nancy Eisenberg - 2001 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 25 (1):33-34.
Sympathy, Disability, and the Nurse: Female Power in Edith Wharton’s The Fruit of the Tree. [REVIEW]Rebecca Garden - 2010 - Journal of Medical Humanities 31 (3):223-242.
Towards a Consensus About the Role of Empathy in Interpersonal Understanding.John Michael - 2014 - Topoi 33 (1):157-172.
Empathy and Emotions: On the Notion of Empathy as Emotional Sharing.Peter Nilsson - 2003 - Dissertation, Umeå University
Analytics
Added to PP index
2014-01-27
Total views
91 ( #109,715 of 2,411,839 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
6 ( #121,582 of 2,411,839 )
2014-01-27
Total views
91 ( #109,715 of 2,411,839 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
6 ( #121,582 of 2,411,839 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads