Empathy, Expansionism, and the Extended Mind
Oxford University Press eBooks October 13, 2011 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199539956.003.0008 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 23 |
| Key points | Proposes a definition of empathy as 'other-focussed personal imagining' that distinguishes it from affective mimicry and emotional contagion while relating those lower-level processes to full empathy. Argues that empathy may be both a mechanism and a beneficiary of the 'extended mind,' enhanced through narration, and that narrative artworks may expand empathy's scope and intensity via 'expanded cognition.' |
Abstract
Abstract This chapter advances a definition of empathy as *other‐focussed personal imagining,* a definition which at once distinguishes empathy from various lower‐level phenomena such as affective mimicry and emotional contagion, and specifies the relationship between such processes and fully‐fledged empathy. This account of empathy is then contextualized and developed further in relation to two other recent proposals. The theory of the *extended mind* stresses the way in which the human mind amplifies its capacities by the exploiting the world beyond the physical boundaries of the body; empathy may be both a mechanism and a beneficiary of such extension, its power being enhanced through the practice of narration. The theory of *expanded cognition* lays a related emphasis on the way in which everyday perceptual and cognitive routines are often stretched in the context of art; the scope and intensity of empathy may be expanded by narrative artworks in just this way.