No empathy for empathy: An existential reading of Husserl’s forgotten question

Ioannidis, I. (2019) No empathy for empathy: An existential reading of Husserl’s forgotten question. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 27(2), pp. 201-223. (doi: 10.1080/09672559.2019.1602320)

Abstract

Empathy is a term used to denote our experience of connecting or feeling with an Other. The term has been used both by psychologists and phenomenologists as a supplement for our biological capacity to understand an Other. In this paper I would like to challenge the possibility of such empathy. If empathy is employed to mean that we know another person’s feelings, then I argue that this is impossible. I argue that there is an equivocation in the use of the term ‘empathy’ which conditions the appropriation of the Other as we think that we know how the Other feels. To claim that we do know an Other’s feelings – or any kind of their intentional experience – means to appropriate their experience through our own. I will first reveal the equivocal use of the term ‘empathy’ and, then, I will explore Husserl’s use of the term. In Husserl, the understanding of an Other as empathy is only partial. I shall conclude by reiterating a thesis from philosophy of existence and feminist theory according to which to know another person comes from creating a community with them and not because we have a biological structure that can mirror each other’s feelings.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ioannidis, Iraklis
• Authors: Ioannidis, I.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities
• Journal Name: International Journal of Philosophical Studies
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1466-4542
• ISSN (Online): 1466-4542
• Published Online: 18 April 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor and Francis Group
• First Published: First published in International Journal of Philosophical Studies 27(2):201-223
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher