Understanding
and feeling the other have become one of the main pursuits and dead ends of
social sciences. The multidisciplinary
conception of empathy is the ability of envisioning of what the other thinks
and feels. Considering the fact that empathy emphasizes understanding of feelings
and thoughts, Bauman gives also a strong emphasis on emotions. This study evaluates the current literature
of empathy within the context of Bauman's ideas. The themes of rationality, morality,
us and them are evaluated in this context. Within the theme of rationality,
Bauman's criticism of rationality evaluated depending on the fact that empathy
has both cognitive and emotional aspects.
Similarly, the relation between empathy and rationality is formed with
which the importance of knowledge and feeling are mentioned in understanding
the other. In the theme of morality, Levinas' understanding of morality, which
is the foundation of Bauman's morality, is used to analyse the possibility of
understanding the other and its relation to altruism. Nowadays, empathy is seen
as a source of helping the other and altruistic behavior. The discussions of
empathy also underlies the importance of human beings' limitations of
themselves to protect themselves from being negatively affected while they are
trying to understand the other. This conception of altruism includes human
beings' giving priority to the other before themselves. For the themes of we
and the other, the scope of influence of grouping in social life for understanding
the other, and what kind of relation might be between understanding of the
other and being similar, close and different are the subjects that are
emphasized.
Primary Language | Turkish |
---|---|
Subjects | Sociology (Other) |
Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | September 30, 2019 |
Acceptance Date | August 15, 2019 |
Published in Issue | Year 2019 Volume: 13 Issue: 19 |