Why Empathy Is an Crucial Advanced Emotion in Morality

YiXun Bian

Jennifer Ware

PHI-3035

3rd Assignment

Why Empathy is an Crucial Advanced Emotion in Morality

In Darwall’s definition is “Empathy consists in feelings what one imagines he feels, or perhaps should feel (fear, say), or in some imagined copy of these feelings”. However, the most significant meaning^[a] within empathy is put oneself in other people’s situation. In my view, empathy is an advanced emotion for morality, and it plays a crucial role in improving our moral standards.  

First, empathy is an advanced emotional link that connects people with each other: it is not only connect people physically^[b][c] and materialistically, but also connects with people mentally and spiritually. Unlike sympathy, compassion, even pity that make people to feel sorrow, hardship about others only; but empathy is the one who put him/herself into others’ shoes result in a spiritual or mental connections. As an example: If someone’s relative is injured in an accident, most people would sympathize the injured person about his/her physical pain; but not majority of people would put themselves into the juried person’s shoes trying to imagine the actual pain he’s suffering. If the one who had similar accident experiences, they may share similar thoughts compare to those people who only feel sympathy.

 Secondly, Empathy and other emotions shouldn’t be viewed in the same dimension, because empathy is a combination of sympathy, compassion, mercy, and other emotions, even with actions. It is similar with English learning process, kids learn alphabets before they learn words, but if they are very fluent in words that no one would doubt about their fluency in alphabets. When most people see homeless people, they may just ignore them; some kind people would give them few dollars, but only few people would help them regularly or even try to help them to get rid of their current living circumstance^[d].

 A social experience video that a guy gave a homeless man a hundred dollars in order to see what the homeless person would do. The guy expected the homeless man would use the money to buy alcohols, foods, cigarettes to make himself feel better on that day, but the actual result was the homeless person went to a grocery store, bought many food, snacks, water; then he went to a park where other homeless people were gathered and shared all the food with them. At the end, the homeless person received few hundred dollars more from the same guy for appreciating his kindness, warmhearted behavior. In this case, it was completely fine if he didn’t share food with others, but he chose not to hide, and share with them. This is because his homeless experiences automatically recalled his empathic point of views that guided him to help others. Another similar case would be the military one, a famous navy slogan is leave no man behind, for those soldiers who live and die together definitely have more profound understanding than us.