INTRODUCTORY REMARKS:
The English word empathy is derived from the Ancient Greek word εμπάθεια (empatheia, meaning "physical affection or passion"). ... The term was adapted by Hermann Lotze and Robert Vischer to create the German word Einfühlung ("feeling into" or "feeling at one with"), which was translated by Edward B. Titchener into the English word "empathy". Amazing trail to research this and unpack it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aristotle recognized the limits coldly and realistically, saying more one differs from his audience the less likely to move them--get them to feel empathy. (He made a whole catalogue of arguments for each sub-sector of Greek society to overcome this problem.) Still true?
What is empathy? Anthropology, evolutionary biology, psychology, neurobiology all claim to know. Literature can stir empathy, as can music and the visual arts. Is empathy shown for beings represented in art qualitatively different than in real life? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ QUESTION: Think of what art makes you feel empathy. Can you take apart why?
Very interesting and stimulating topic , looking forward to see replies.
I find these two articles interesting:
https://www.empathythroughart.com
https://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/theory-of-mind-why-art-evokes-empathy
Thanks very much Colleagues! Yes to my respected colleague Lamia Al-Naama.
I think so--one of the greatest of questions. People don;t want to be moved outside their accustomed answers and blinkered views. They have armor all around their opinions.
aesthetics is essentially - the study of feeling - empathy is just one of the components of aesthetics like a color on an artists palette..
Dear Colleague Paul Alt,
I think empathy is more important than simply one of the components, but that is my POV as somebody in the field of rhetoric, as well as a painter. The role of pathos is one of the three parts of the rhetorical triangle formulated by Aristotle as the means of persuasion: ETHOS, LOGOS, and PATHOS.
Any architecture can be viewed rhetorically as to what argument it is making. So my guess is more like one of three components. That is if we are doing a rhetorical analysis of an architectural site.
in terms of aesthetics - there are many ways to feel -it is non hierarchical ie: music, art and architecture ....
Aristotle does not own this...he is an important reference
Certainly, many times the three means of persuasion are helpful. In addition to Aristotle, many other aesthetic critics such as, for instance, Mikhail Bakhtin also used these three means in his _The Dialogic Imagination_ study of words contending in novels, for instance.
The obsessive concern among the 20th C. "New Critics" with metaphor may be unpacked to read how making comparisons makes my statement more effective.
Just one example of how metaphor in fiction or painting may stir empathy. That is, linking something of little emotional charge to something with more charge.
We design healing environments for trauma. Architecture is an important tool to illicit a human beings rainbow of emotions. Empathy is a key component for connection between healer and patient in addition to compassion, trust, introspection and acceptance. Our work provides a "menu of choices" of how to feel in one's healing journey. For not every day is the same. Grief may also play a role in which anger and hate may surface in the mourning process. WE recently were a presenter with GAry Fischer of the VA and Ann Berger of NIH webinar for the Center of Health Design: VA Healing Environments and Research: Connection, Reflection, Introspection, Trust and Acceptance presented on July 11th for the Center for Health Design. Let me know what u think!
https://vimeo.com/348233357
Empathy implies a direct connection between a teacher and his students, between a physician and his patients, between parents and and children, between grandparents and grandchildren, between good friends and so. During my university activities, teaching neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neurology, which are considered hard and difficult topics, with empathy you make it easier to understand.
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