Rediscovering empathy : agency, folk psychology, and the human sciences

289 Pages·2006·1.23 MB·English

by  Stueber

R E D I S C OV E R I NG
E M PAT H Y
AGENCY, FOLK PSYCHOLOGY,
AND THE HUMAN SCIENCES
KARSTEN R. STUEBER
Rediscovering Empathy

Rediscovering Empathy
Agency,FolkPsychology,andtheHumanSciences
KarstenR.Stueber
ABradfordBook
TheMITPress
Cambridge,Massachusetts
London,England
(2006MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformbyanyelec-
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Stueber,KarstenR.
Rediscoveringempathy:agency,folkpsychology,andthehumansciences/Karsten
R.Stueber.
p. cm.
‘‘ABradfordbook.’’
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-262-19550-8(hc:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-262-19550-X(hc:alk.paper)
1.Psychology—Philosophy. 2.Scienceandpsychology. 3.Empathy. I.Title.
BF64.S78 2006
152.401—dc22 2005058414
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Inmemoryofmyfather,KurtStu¨ber

Contents
Preface ix
Introduction 1
1 EmpathyandKnowledgeofOtherMinds:AHistoricalPerspective 5
2 ArguingforEmpathySystematically 19
3 BriefExcursus:Empathy,Sympathy,andSocialPsychology 26
1 FolkPsychologyandRationalAgency 33
1.1 EliminativismandtheAllureoftheDetachedConceptionofFolkPsychology 34
1.2 HumansasRationalAnimals:ClearingUpaConfusionintheRationalityDebate 48
2 CharityandRationalContextualism 65
2.1 InDefenseofGlobalCharity 66
2.2 RationalContextualismversusBoundedRationality 80
3 TheTheoryofMindDebate 99
3.1 TheTheory-TheoryParadigm 105
3.2 TheSimulationParadigm 111
4 BasicEmpathyandReenactiveEmpathy 131
4.1 Mindreading,Folk-PsychologicalConcepts,andMirrorNeurons 132
4.2 TheEssentialContextualityandIndexicalityofThoughtsasReasons 152
5 FolkPsychologyandNormativeEpistemology 173
5.1 Empathy,Folk-PsychologicalPredictions,andExplanations 178
6 TheLimitsofEmpathy 195
6.1 ObjectionsandMisconceptionsinthePhilosophyofSocialScience 196
6.2 EmpathyandthePrejudicialNatureofUnderstanding 204
viii Contents
ConcludingRemarks 219
Notes 221
References 251
Index 271
Preface
This book constitutes a systematic and historically informed defense of
the controversial thesis that empathy is epistemically central to our folk-
psychological ability to understand other agents. I will develop the argu-
ment for empathy in the context of current philosophy of mind and the
interdisciplinary debate about the nature of our mindreading abilities, a
debatethatinvolvesamultitudeofdisciplinesrangingfromphilosophyto
neuroscience. As I will explain in the introduction, one can defend em-
pathy successfully in the current context only if one is also aware of the
historicaloriginsof,thecriticaldebatesurrounding,andtheeventualrejec-
tionoftheviabilityoftheconceptofempathyinthephilosophyofsocial
science. A systematic defense of empathy has to be able to address the
prima facie plausible objections raised within the philosophy of social
science. According to the prevalent view in the philosophy of the social
sciences, to conceive of empathy as epistemically central to our ability to
understand other agents is an expression of epistemic naivete´, a proposal
tainted by its association with an objectionable Cartesian conception of
the mind. By countering these objections this book attempts philosophi-
cally to rehabilitate the empathy thesis that was popular at the beginning
ofthetwentiethcentury.
Having found my philosophical bearing in an environment that was
skepticalaboutempathy,Iwasratherprejudicedagainsttheclaimsofsim-
ulation theorists—today’s equivalent of empathy theorists—when I first
encountered them. Yet at the same time I was intrigued by the ongoing
debate about our mindreading abilities. My book is the culmination of
my thinking about empathy in the current context and the outcome of a
process of overcoming my own philosophical doubts about empathy’s