Abstract

This paper claims that phenomenon of empathy, described by Edith Stein, and phenomenon of sympathy, analysed by Max Scheler, offer complementary insights into the essence of intersubjective link and into the conditions of possibility for experiencing the Other. Stein’s and Scheler’s phenomenological analyses took place in the context of Husserlian researches on intersubjectivity problems, following a critical attitude towards modern theories of sympathy and towards Lipps’ psychology of empathy as well. However, Scheler’s and Stein’s standpoints got also together on the basis of a philosophical affinity and a critical shared position with regard to Husserl’s transcendental constitution of phenomenology. According to Stein to empathize involves a particular kind of apperception that actualizes the original contents of living experiences of the alien body in a non-original way, whereas for Scheler to sympathize refers to the manner of feeling with others some shared emotions, in an original way, thanks to inner perception of the living life of the neighbour, as another condition of possibility for the Fremderfahrung.