What Empathy Can(not) Do. An Inquiry into the Epistemic Possibilities and Limits of Empathic Imagination.

In my dissertation, I am going to argue that empathy is a cognitive process through which we imagine another\u2019s first-person perspective in a given situation. Empathy aims at providing empathizers with an insight into \u201cwhat it feels like\u201d to be in somebody else\u2019s shoes. I call this phenomenon phenomenal insight. In light of this account, I am going to show some of empathy\u2019s major epistemic possibilities and limits. The dissertation is so structured. In Chapter I, I will engage with the literature devoted to the definition of empathy. From this debate, I extrapolate a pattern of basic features that are shared by most accounts. I then introduce the definition of empathy I will be dealing with throughout the present work. In Chapter II, I engage with the view that regards empathy as capable of providing us with an understanding of other people's reasons for action, where reasons are to be taken as constituted by a belief-desire couple. I criticize the belief-desire model and argue for the inclusion of emotions as full-right reason-giving states. I show how emotions' main source of motivation can be found in the way in which they are phenomenally experienced by subjects. I then argue for phenomenal insight as a way to grasp the reason-giving dimension of emotional states. Attached to this chapter I put an Appendix in which I explore more in detail how it is possible for us to first-personally imagine emotional states. In Chapter III, I argue that what can be empathically imagined is bound to the kind of individuals we are, i.e. to our preferences, values, dispositions, etc. When trying to imagine other people's perspectives, traces of our \u201cselves\u201d can be found in what and how we imagine. I use the case of \u201cimaginative resistance\u201d as a vivid example of this phenomenon. I further defend my claims by resorting to some relevant empirical work in social psychology and neuroscience. In Chapter IV, I engage with the debate on transformative experiences (TEs). TEs could, indeed, be interpreted as highlighting major limits of our imaginative capabilities due to the kind of selves we are. The stock of experiences we had constrains our capability to conjure up the relevant imaginings about experiences we did not personally undergo. At the same time, the kind of \u201cself\u201d we are impedes us to fully appreciate a different self\u2019s perspective. In Chapter V, I show how the challenges to empathy explored in the previous chapter can be counterbalanced. This allows me to show some surprising features of empathy that are seldom discussed in contemporary literature, namely the possibility to learn via empathy and the possibility to change via empathy. On the one hand, I show how empathy, by stretching our imagination, can provide us with phenomenal insight into experiences we did not actually undergo. On the other hand, I show how empathy, by exposing ourselves to new perspectives, can change us as individuals

Writing Emotions: Theoretical Concepts and Selected Case Studies in Literature

After a long period of neglect, emotions have become an important topic within literary studies. This collection of essays stresses the complex link between aesthetic and non-aesthetic emotional components and discusses emotional patterns by focusing on the practice of writing as well as on the impact of such patterns on receptive processes. Readers interested in the topic will be presented with a concept of aesthetic emotions as formative both within the writing and the reading process. Essays, ranging in focus from the beginning of modern drama to digital formats and theoretical questions, examine examples from English, German, French, Russian and American literature

HUBUNGAN ANTARA SUARA BATIN (INNER VOICE) NEGATIF DAN PENERIMAAN DIRI PADA WARIA DI KOTA MAKASSAR

HUBUNGAN ANTARA SUARA BATIN (INNER VOICE) NEGATIF DAN PENERIMAAN DIRI PADA WARIA DI KOTA MAKASSAR Vitha Melzy Desius ([email protected]) Eva Meizara Puspita Dewi ([email protected]) Farradillah Firdaus ([email protected]) Fakultas Psikologi, Universitas Negeri Makassar Jl. AP Pettarani Makassar, 90222 ABSTRAK Suara batin (inner voice) negatif yang hadir dalam batin seorang waria akan selalu menentang keputusannya dalam mempertahankan keinginan dan naluriah nya sebagai perempuan. penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui hubungan antara penerimaan diri suara batin (inner voice) waria. Subjek pada penelitian ini berjumlah 50 orang waria yang tinggal di kota Makassar. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode kuantitatif dan menggunakan teknik analisis korelasi Spearman-rank. Dari hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penerimaan diri subjek pada penelitian ini tergolong tinggi sedangkan suara batin (inner voice) negatif tergolong rendah. Nilai korelasi negatif sebesar -0,435 dan nilai signifikansi sebesar 0,01 < 0,05, sehingga uji hipotesis menunjukkan bahwa ada hubungan negatif signifikan antara penerimaan diri dengan suara batin (inner voice) negatif pada waria dikota Makassar. Kata kunci : penerimaan diri, Suara batin (inner voice) negatif

Writing Emotions

After a long period of neglect, emotions have become an important topic within literary studies. This collection of essays stresses the complex link between aesthetic and non-aesthetic emotional components. Against this background, emotional patterns are discussed by focusing on the practice of writing as well as on the impact of emotional patterns on receptive processes. Readers will be confronted with a concept of aesthetic emotions as formative both within the writing and the reading process. Essays, ranging in matter from the beginning of modern drama to digital formats and theoretical questions, discuss examples from English, German, French, Russian and American literature

The therapeutic relationship and its links to emotional intelligence

The importance of emotional intelligence (EI) as a theoretical construct to understand human emotions has become quite prominent over the last two decades. However, the concept of EI has not been frequently applied to the therapeutic setting. This study investigated the role that EI plays in therapy, the therapist’s perspective of trait EI in his or her work, and the meaning of the therapeutic relationship from therapists’ perspectives. From interviewing 12 counselling psychologists and therapists, and analysing their responses using a grounded theory approach. The main themes that emerged from the data collected were empathetic balance, benevolent connection and mindfulness. Within these themes a number of findings were established. Most EI traits appear to be present within the therapy setting, albeit not in an overtly conscious way. There was also a sense that EI cannot adequately explain or describe the subtle yet very real emotional connection and empathy that the therapist and the client share and experience. From these findings, I present various recommendations for future research to explore the relevance of EI in the therapeutic setting. One suggestion is to explore the differences between ability and trait EI within the therapeutic relationship while another recommends development of appropriate EI teaching modules for psychotherapy training purposes

Analytics and Intuition in the Process of Selecting Talent

In management, decisions are expected to be based on rational analytics rather than intuition. But intuition, as a human evolutionary achievement, offers wisdom that, despite all the advances in rational analytics and AI, should be used constructively when recruiting and winning personnel. Integrating these inner experiential competencies with rational-analytical procedures leads to smart recruiting decisions

Analytics and Intuition in the Process of Selecting Talent

In management, decisions are expected to be based on rational analytics rather than intuition. But intuition, as a human evolutionary achievement, offers wisdom that, despite all the advances in rational analytics and AI, should be used constructively when recruiting and winning personnel. Integrating these inner experiential competencies with rational-analytical procedures leads to smart recruiting decisions

Interlitteraria : Tartu Ülikooli maailmakirjanduse õppetooli ja Eesti Võrdleva Kirjandusteaduse Assotsiatsiooni rahvusvaheline ajakiri = international refereed edition of the Chair of Comparative Literature of Tartu University and the Estonian Association of Comparative Literature

http://www.ester.ee/record=b1226153*es

International Handbook of Practical Theology

A practical theology, that wants to face the complexity, plurality and differentiation of situations and contexts of religious practices from a global point of view, needs to refer to the discourses that shape them. The contributions can be divided into the sections ‘concepts of religion’, ‘religious practices’, and ‘discourses’, their aim is to identify the respective religious-cultural context and the related framework of interpretation