Empathy and consciousness

Author: Thompson E.

Source: Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 8, Numbers 5-7, 2001 , pp. 1-32(32)

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $28.46 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

This article makes five main points. (1) Individual human consciousness is formed in the dynamic interrelation of self and other, and therefore is inherently intersubjective. (2) The concrete encounter of self and other fundamentally involves empathy, understood as a unique and irreducible kind of intentionality. (3) Empathy is the precondition (the condition of possibility) of the science of consciousness. (4) Human empathy is inherently developmental: open to it are pathways to non-egocentric or self-transcendent modes of intersubjectivity. (5) Real progress in the understanding of intersubjectivity requires integrating the methods and findings of cognitive science, phenomenology, and contemplative and meditative psychologies of human transformation.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Philosophy, York University, 4700 Keele Street, North York, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada .

Publication date: 2001-01-01