Empathy with vicious perspectives? A puzzle about the moral limits of empathetic imagination
Synthese 199 (3-4):9621-9647 (2021)
Abstract
Are there limits to what it is morally okay to imagine? More particularly, is imaginatively inhabiting morally suspect perspectives something that is off-limits for truly virtuous people? In this paper, I investigate the surprisingly fraught relation between virtue and a familiar form of imaginative perspective taking I call empathy. I draw out a puzzle about the relation between empathy and virtuousness. First, I present an argument to the effect that empathy with vicious attitudes is not, in fact, something that the fully virtuous person can indulge in. At least one prominent way of thinking about the psychology of the virtuous person excludes the possibility that the virtuous could emotionally apprehend the world in a less than virtuous way, and empathizing with vicious outlooks does seem to run afoul of that restriction. Then, I develop an argument that runs in the contrary direction: virtue in fact requires empathy with vicious outlooks, at least in some situations. There is reason to think that a crucial part of being virtuous is ministering effectively to others’ needs, and there is also reason to think that other people may need to be empathized with, even if their emotional outlooks are at least minorly vicious. Finally, I outline two different solutions to this puzzle. Both solutions hold some promise, but they also bring new challenges in their train.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1007/s11229-021-03219-z
My notes
Similar books and articles
Virtuous and Vicious Anger.Bommarito Nicolas - 2017 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 11 (3):1-28.
In Defense of the Moral Significance of Empathy.Aaron Simmons - 2014 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 17 (1):97-111.
To Become Good.Howard J. Curzer - 1998 - The Paideia Archive: Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy 3:106-111.
Empathy, Imagination, and Phenomenal Concepts.Kendall Walton - 2015 - In In Other Shoes: Music, Metaphor, Empathy, Existence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1-16.
The Limits of Rationality: Aristotle on the Possibility of Practical Reason.Russell Helder - unknown
Empathy for the Devil.Adam Morton - 2011 - In Amy Coplan & Peter Goldie (eds.), Empathy: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives. Oxford University Press. pp. 318.
Empathy and Testimonial Trust.Olivia Bailey - 2018 - Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 84:139-160.
Four Solutions to the Alleged Incompleteness of Virtue Ethics.Sean McAleer - 2010 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 4 (3):1-20.
Analytics
Added to PP
2021-05-28
Downloads
115 (#110,303)
6 months
27 (#45,305)
2021-05-28
Downloads
115 (#110,303)
6 months
27 (#45,305)
Historical graph of downloads
Author's Profile
Citations of this work
When and why to empathize with political opponents.Hannah Read - forthcoming - Philosophical Studies:1-21.
References found in this work
Wise Choices, Apt Feelings: A Theory of Normative Judgment.Allan Gibbard - 1990 - Harvard University Press.
Virtues of the Mind: An Inquiry Into the Nature of Virtue and the Ethical Foundations of Knowledge.Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski - 1996 - Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions.Martha C. Nussbaum - 2001 - Cambridge University Press.