Eva-Maria Engelen

Current Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Debates on Empathy

Almost anybody writing in the field would declare that there is no accepted standard definition of empathy—either among the sciences and humanities or in the specific disciplines. However, even when accepting that there can be no all-time and universally valid definition, one can still try to clarify some aspects and establish a few landmarks that will help to ensure that the phenomenon with which various researchers are dealing is the same, or has at least important features in common. Although there is no established concept, several topics and discussions have proved to be crucial for the phenomenon that was once given this specially made-up label empathy by Edward Titchener (1909), who introduced this word into English at the beginning of the 20th century in order to translate the German term Einfühlung. The idea behind this special section on empathy is to present a range of the currently most lively topics and discussions to be found not only within several disciplines, but also across several disciplinary boundaries. Authors from different disciplines were asked to contribute to the field in a style that would be accessible for a broader range of interested readers. These contributions come from the following disciplines in which empathy is either an ongoing or an upcoming topic of academic interest: neuropsychology, developmental psychology, philosophy, literary studies, and anthropology. The commentators giving their views on the articles are sometimes experts on empathy from the same discipline as the authors and sometimes from adjoining ones.

Emotions as Bio-cultural Processes: Disciplinary Debates and an Interdisciplinary Outlook

This chapter develops a theoretical framework that is capable of integrating the biological foundations of emotions with their cultural and semantic formation. It starts by investigating two leading scientific theories about emotions: one that is dominant in biology and a second one that is dominant in psychology. In biology, we consider the theory of basic emotions that focuses on innate biological emotional mechanisms. Using this approach, we can take physiological states into account. In psychology, we take a closer look at theories focusing on appraisals—the so-called appraisal theories—because these can be brought in to explain the cultural and semantic modification of biological emotional processes. Our examination of the major factors and elements of appraisal processes, which is also an examination of the internal processing of an emotional episode, discriminates unconscious from conscious processes and mental from nonmental processes. The next step is to integrate the two theories—the theory of basic emotions and appraisal theory—to couple emotional sensations with emotional concepts (semanticization). We clarify how basic innate emotional processes and complex learned ones are related to each other. We assume that cognition, feeling, and consciousness gradually become more differentiated in single species and organisms (phylogeny). Correspondingly, one possible hypothesis is that this differentiation process runs parallel on all levels, meaning that these domains can be assumed to be closely linked or even interdependent.

Innenleben und Dialog

Abstract This study is guided by the idea that the totality of human self-relationships is dependent on a respective other, in order to be able to develop and in extreme cases sustain oneself. This is true even with regard to the phenomenal experience. On the one hand, it is determined how anthropological basic constellations are linked to relevant ethical questions of lifestyle and coping with existence, and, on the other hand, a lifestyle technique and ethical improvement are considered. Emotional and affective self-relationships in particular are examined to determine the phenomenal content of human self-relationships. In the first section, a model is presented on how inner life and thus a self is created in dialogical structures. In the second part, a traditional monologic technique is described as a dialogue with oneself, with whose help an inner life is further developed and unfolded. The third section shows how the effort towards self-preservation refers to dialogue scenarios.

Heureka - oder: "Sind sechs genug?"

„Heureka“ („Ich habe gefunden“) soll Archimedes gerufen haben, als er in der Badewanne lag und sah, wie sein Korper das Wasser verdrangte. Unvermittelt war ihm der Zusammenhang klar geworden: Er hatte das Auftriebsgesetz verstanden, was ihm dazu verhalf, den Goldgehalt der Krone des Tyrannen zu bestimmen, indem er sie ins Wasser tauchte und das verdrangte Volumen mas. Er entstieg der Wanne, rannte nackt durch die Strasen von Syrakus und rief weiterhin: „Ich habe gefunden!“

Anger, Shame, and Justice: Regulative and Evaluative Function of Emotions in the Ancient and Modern Worlds

Analyzing the ancient Greek point of view concerning anger, shame, and justice and a very modern one, one can see that anger has a regulative function, but shame does as well. Anger puts the other in his place, thereby regulating hierarchies. Shame regulates the social relations of recognition. Both emotions also have an evaluative function because anger evaluates a situation with regard to a humiliation and shame with regard to a misdemeanor. In addition, attention must be paid to the correct molding of these emotions and the correct ways of using them during rearing one to be good or just (i.e., in personality formation).