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What is empathy?
Sympathy – feeling for someone. Your emotional reaction to their feeling
Compassion – concern for the misfortune or suffering of others
The ability to understand and experience another person’s feelings
Why is empathy good?Empathy makes us care about
other people because their pain and joy become our pain and joy.
Empathy in scriptureIslam
Qur’an: Chapter 9, Verse 128 – There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer.
Empathy in scriptureJudaism
Exodus 23:9 – You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
[Another translation “you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens.”]
Empathy in scriptureChristianity
- Romans 12:15 – Paul said we should “rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
- 1 Corinthians 12:26 – Paul says that “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”
Empathy in scriptureJohn 11: 33-35
“When Jesus saw Lazarus’ sister, Mary, weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. . . (35) “Jesus wept.”
Empathy in scriptureBuddhism
- “Sentimental compassion” (empathy) - “Great compassion” - love for others
without empathetic attachment or distress.
Teaching: “Sentimental compassion (empathy) is to be avoided, as it exhausts you. Whereas great compassion, which is more distanced and reserved, and can be sustained indefinitely.”
How could empathy be bad?
1) Empathy reflects our prejudicesSandy Hook Elementary School
(2012)◦21 kids and 6 adults killed
1) Empathy reflects our prejudicesMRI - electric shock study
2) Empathy focuses us on whoever is in front of us and visibleQuality-Life Foundation test
◦High empathy group vs. low empathy group
3) Empathy favors the one over the many
4) Empathy can overwhelm us and prevent us from doing goodHusband and wife rescue teamBuddhist experiment
5) Empathy drives short term thinking with long-term consequencesChild beggars in IndiaCambodian orphanagesWar lords in Africa
How these problems creep into our public policy
Victim statements during the sentencing phase◦ How much they cry, same skin color
War experiment◦ Measured empathy◦ Response to atrocity (0 = nothing, 2 =
economic, 4 = air strikes, 6 = full-scale invasion)
Foreign Aid◦ Often puts local farmers and
markets out of business
Action Items
Listen to your head, not your heart when making moral, charity, fairness, and justice decisions
Visit effectivealtruism.org – “Rather than just doing what feels right, we use evidence and careful analysis to find the very best causes to work on.”
Use givewell.org – monitor the efficacy of charities to determine which ones make the most difference
Discussion Questions1. Do you find any of the arguments
against empathy compelling? Which ones and why?
2. Describe a recent decision that you made out of empathy that you might want to rethink.
3. What are some parts of your life that you think would be better if you were more empathetic?
4. What are some strategies you could use to keep yourself from making poor decisions based on empathetic appeals?
Closing Quote
“Perhaps empathy is like milk. Adults don’t need milk; we do fine without it. But babies need milk to
grow. [Perhaps empathy is] the developmental core of morality. . . but ultimately we develop caring without having to step into other
people’s shoes.”
-- Paul Bloom
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