You do not need a philosopher to tell you what empathy is. What then do you need? How about a folktale, a narrative, a fairy tale?

Rather than start with a definition of empathy, my proposal is to start by telling a couple of stories, in which empathy (and its breakdown) plays a crucial role. 

Both stories are anonymous folktales from the collection edited by the Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The first story (Dr Know-it-all) features top down, cognitive empathy; the second story (The Youth Who Went For to Learn Fear) features bottom up, affective empathy. 

Along the way, the listener encounters spirited hijinks, the neurology of [not] experiencing fear, empathy training, rich empathy lessons, and how empathy gives us our humanity. Not to be missed!

[View the original post: https://louagosta.com/2021/04/10/the-case-of-dr-know-it-all-empathy-gives-us-our-humanity/(opens in a new tab)]

(c) Lou Agosta, PhD and the Chicago Empathy Project