Forms of Fellow Feeling
Empathy, Sympathy, Concern and Moral Agency

An interdisciplinary approach to the foundations of moral agency, focusing on different forms and roles of fellow feeling.

Neil Roughley (Edited by), Thomas Schramme (Edited by)

9781107109513, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 January 2018

342 pages, 12 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.2 cm, 0.61 kg

'This anthology of academic essays on the topic of empathy and morality, from a multi-disciplinary perspective, will be a valuable addition to the field.' Simon Baron-Cohen, University of Cambridge

What is the basis of our capacity to act morally? This is a question that has been discussed for millennia, with philosophical debate typically distinguishing two sources of morality: reason and sentiment. This collection aims to shed light on whether the human capacity to feel for others really is central for morality and, if so, in what way. To tackle these questions, the authors discuss how fellow feeling is to be understood: its structure, content and empirical conditions. Also discussed are the exact roles that relevant psychological features - specifically: empathy, sympathy and concern - may play within morality. The collection is unique in bringing together the key participants in the various discussions of the relation of fellow feeling to moral norms, moral concepts and moral agency. By integrating conceptually sophisticated and empirically informed perspectives, Forms of Fellow Feeling will appeal to readers from philosophy, psychology, sociology and cultural studies.

Part I: 1. Introduction: empathy, sympathy, concern and moral agency Neil Roughley and Thomas Schramme
Part II. Empathy, Sympathy and Concern: 2. Empathy, altruism, and helping: conceptual distinctions, empirical relations Dan Batson
3. Self-recognition, empathy and concern for others in toddlers Doris Bischof-Köhler and Norbert Bischof
Part III. Understanding Empathy: 4. Self-simulation and empathy Heidi Maibom
5. Empathy as an instinct Michael Slote
6. A moral account of empathy and fellow feeling Lawrence Blum
Part IV. Fellow Feeling and the Development of Pro Sociality: 7. Empathy-related responding and its relations to positive development Nancy Eisenberg
8. An interdisciplinary perspective on the origins of concern for others: contributions from psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and sociobiology Carolyn Zahn-Waxler, Andrew Schoen and Jean Decety
9. Sophisticated concern in early childhood Amrisha Vaish
Part V. Empathy and Morality: 10. Is empathy required for making moral judgements? John Deigh
11. The empathy in moral obligation. An exercise in creature construction Neil Roughley
12. Empathy and reciprocating attitudes Stephen Darwall
13. The role of empathy in an agential account of morality: lessons from autism and psychopathy Thomas Schramme.

Subject Areas: Neurosciences [PSAN], Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Cultural studies [JFC], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Philosophy [HP]