Being Me Being You : Adam Smith and Empathy / Samuel Fleischacker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fleischacker, Samuel, Author.

Series:

Chicago scholarship online.

Chicago scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Smith, Adam, 1723-1790.

Smith, Adam.

Empathy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (231 pages)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Modern notions of empathy often celebrate its ability to bridge divides, to unite humankind. But how do we square this with the popular view that we can never truly comprehend the experience of being someone else? In this book, Samuel Fleischacker delves into the work of Adam Smith to draw out an understanding of empathy that respects both personal difference and shared humanity. After laying out a range of meanings for the concept of empathy, Fleischacker proposes that what Smith called "sympathy" is very much what we today consider empathy. Smith's version has remarkable value, as his empathy calls for entering into the perspective of another-a uniquely human feat that connects people while still allowing them to define their own distinctive standpoints. After discussing Smith's views in relation to more recent empirical and philosophical studies, Fleischacker shows how turning back to Smith promises to enrich, clarify, and advance our current debates about the meaning and uses of empathy.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

1. Varieties of Empathy

2. Smithian Empathy

3. Updating Smith

4. Empathy and Culture

5. Empathy and Affectional Ties

6. Utilitarianism and the Limits of Empathy

7. Empathy and the Limits of Utilitarianism (I)

8. Empathy and the Limits of Utilitarianism (II)

9. Empathy and Demonization

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 2019.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Feb 2020)

ISBN:

9780226661926

022666192X

OCLC:

1124611245