by Rick Lewis
http://philosophynow.org/issues/52/Empa ... magination
Empathy & Imagination
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marjoramblues
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Re: Empathy & Imagination
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Last edited by marjoramblues on Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Dunce
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Re: Empathy & Imagination
Wouldn't a sense of empathy be a positive advantage to a terrorist? The idea of employing terrorism as a tactic is to instill fear in a population; to terrorize them into submission so they acquiesce in your demands. A good understanding of people's fears is therefore an asset. As a terrorist, you want your victims to suffer and you want that suffering to be shown on television, in order that others will empathize with them and be keen to avoid the same fate. The ideal terrorist would be a sadist. You need empathy to be a sadist. How could you take delight in the suffering of others if you don't know what makes them suffer?
People find it easy to empathize with those close to them. The difficulty they have in stretching empathy further causes problems in an increasingly urbanized and interconnected world. Increasingly the challenges we face are global in nature, yet governments are national and face pressure to stick-up for national interests from their citizens. If people could look beyond nationalistic sentiment - essentially a base instinct to only empathize only with those of your own tribe - and feel greater empathy for those they will probably never meet in other parts of the world, then humanity would become able to advance itself.
People find it easy to empathize with those close to them. The difficulty they have in stretching empathy further causes problems in an increasingly urbanized and interconnected world. Increasingly the challenges we face are global in nature, yet governments are national and face pressure to stick-up for national interests from their citizens. If people could look beyond nationalistic sentiment - essentially a base instinct to only empathize only with those of your own tribe - and feel greater empathy for those they will probably never meet in other parts of the world, then humanity would become able to advance itself.
Re: Empathy & Imagination
A sadist does not need empathy. He can observe and calculate what makes other people suffer.
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With very exotic cultures you never know what to expect and even if you wanted to be kind you may go completely wrong.
Red Indians put people to death and made them suffer as a sign of respect. We would call it sadistic but for them the suffering was good, an honour etc.
You offer a carott to an African because she goes blind without vitamine A and she feels insulted because carotts are food for the poorest. She would prefer cosmetics to make her skin lighter.
It´s not easy to empathize with everybody.
Even in your own culture.
The mother of my acquaintance offered a freshly bought prezel to an homeless begger and he was offended because he wanted money to buy himself beer.
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With very exotic cultures you never know what to expect and even if you wanted to be kind you may go completely wrong.
Red Indians put people to death and made them suffer as a sign of respect. We would call it sadistic but for them the suffering was good, an honour etc.
You offer a carott to an African because she goes blind without vitamine A and she feels insulted because carotts are food for the poorest. She would prefer cosmetics to make her skin lighter.
It´s not easy to empathize with everybody.
Even in your own culture.
The mother of my acquaintance offered a freshly bought prezel to an homeless begger and he was offended because he wanted money to buy himself beer.
Re: Empathy & Imagination
Has anyone read "The Pale King" by D.F. Wallace ?
It contains among other things a convincing story of the boy Leonard who went out of his way to be kind and good and infuriated everyone and was hated by all, including his own parents.
I don´t quite remember having met such a person in real life, not to this degree.
But the phenomenon sounds familiar to me.
How much selfishness is necessary to produce a healthy mixture ?
A kind gesture once in a while ? To a carefully chosen few who are sure to appreciate it ?
It contains among other things a convincing story of the boy Leonard who went out of his way to be kind and good and infuriated everyone and was hated by all, including his own parents.
I don´t quite remember having met such a person in real life, not to this degree.
But the phenomenon sounds familiar to me.
How much selfishness is necessary to produce a healthy mixture ?
A kind gesture once in a while ? To a carefully chosen few who are sure to appreciate it ?