Empathy

Empathy has for a long time at least since the eighteenth century been seen as centrally important in relation to our capacity to gain a grasp of the content of other people''s minds and predict and explain what they will think feel and do; and in relation to our capacity to respond to others ethically. In addition empathy is seen as having a central role in aesthetics in the understanding of our engagement with works of art and with fictional characters. A fuller understanding of empathy is now offered by the interaction of research in science and the humanities. Empathy: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives draws together nineteen original chapters by leading researchers across several disciplines together with an extensive Introduction by the editors. The individual chapters reveal how important it is in a wide range of fields of enquiry to bring to bear an understanding of the role of empathy in its various guises. This volume offers the ideal starting-point for the exploration of this intriguing aspect of human life.