Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Empathy and Other-Directed Intentionality (Zavahi)
Empathy and Other-Directed Intentionality (Zavahi)
DOI 10.1007/s11245-013-9197-4
Abstract The article explores and compares the accounts in the domain of aesthetics by the philosopher Robert Vi-
of empathy found in Lipps, Scheler, Stein and Husserl and scher. It was then taken over by Theodor Lipps, who
argues that the three latter phenomenological thinkers offer introduced it into the field of social cognition and used it to
a model of empathy, which is not only distinctly different designate our basic capacity for understanding others. It
from Lipps’, but which also diverge from the currently was Lipps’ notion that Edward Titchener (1909), the
dominant models. American psychologist, had in mind when he translated
‘‘Einfühlung’’ as ‘‘empathy’’.
Keywords Lipps Stein Husserl Scheler The concept of empathy has a distinct philosophical
Goldman Empathy Social cognition Theory of origin, but was soon adopted and co-opted by psycholo-
mind Interpersonal understanding gists. In 1910, the 4th Congress for experimental psy-
chology took place in Innsbruck. During that meeting, the
phenomenologist Moritz Geiger presented a paper entitled
Although there in recent years has been something of an ‘‘Über das Wesen und die Bedeutung der Einfühlung’’
upsurge of interest in and work on empathy, there is still no where he very carefully surveyed and discussed how the
clear consensus about what precisely it is. Is empathy a concept of empathy had been employed by Lipps and by
question of sharing another’s feelings, or caring about contemporary psychologists and philosophers like Siebeck,
another, or being emotionally affected by another’s expe- Volkelt, Witasek and Groos. During the ensuing discus-
riences though not necessarily experiencing the same sion, however, he was criticized by member of the audi-
experiences? Is it a question of imagining oneself in ence, a Fräulein Martin, who made the following remark:
another’s situation, or of imagining being another in that
When I arrived, I expected to hear something about
other’s situation, or simply of making inferences about
experiments in the field of empathy. But what have I
another’s mental states? People are disagreeing about the
heard except plenty of old theories. No experimental
role of sharing, and caring, and imagination in empathy,
results. But this is no philosophical association. I
just as they disagree about the relation between empathy
believe the time is ripe for those who want to present
and social cognition in general, and about whether empathy
these kinds of theories, to show us whether or not
is a natural kind or rather a multidimensional construct.
they can be confirmed by experiments (Quoted in
Sometimes it can be illuminating and clarifying to
Geiger 1911, 66).
consider the historical origin of contested notions. The
notion of empathy does not have a long history. The Ger- Such impatience with philosophy is of course not unique
man term ‘‘Einfühlung’’ had been coined in 1873 and used to Martin. Could it be that one reason why fundamental
issues continue to remain unresolved and contested in the
debate on empathy is due to the predominance of philo-
D. Zahavi (&)
sophical ruminations and the lack of proper science? I am
Center for Subjectivity Research, University of Copenhagen,
Njalsgade 140-142, 5th Floor, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark somewhat doubtful that matters would improve if philos-
e-mail: [email protected] ophy was pushed to the side, but what needs to be
123
130 D. Zahavi
considered is the historical origin and context of the term, really happening is that I am projecting a part of myself
and the extent to which traditional philosophical assump- into these external objects (Lipps 1909, 225, 237), and this
tions and positions continue to shape and influence the is for Lipps what empathy more generally is all about. To
scientific debate for good and for ill. feel empathy is to experience a part of one’s own psy-
In the following, my focus will be on the early explo- chological life as belonging to or in an external object, it is
ration of empathy that we find in the phenomenological to penetrate and suffuse that object with one’s own life
tradition, since I take it to contain important insights that (Lipps 1909, 224).
remain of relevance for the contemporary debate. As we Let us consider the case of social cognition. When we
shall see, the phenomenologists offer a distinct and multi- perceive the facial expressions of others, we immediately co-
layered analysis of the intentional structure of empathy, apprehend the expressed emotions, say, the anger or sadness.
one that differs rather markedly from recent attempts to This does not mean, however, that we actually perceive the
explain empathy in terms of mirroring, mimicry, imitation, anger or sadness. According to Lipps, anger and sadness
emotional contagion, imaginative projection or inferential cannot be perceived, since they are not to be found in the
attribution. external world. We only know directly of these emotions
I have been working on the topic of a phenomenology of through self-experience or to put it differently, the only
empathy for more than a decade. The following contribu- emotions we have experiential access to are our own. So
tion recapitulates some of the points I have made in the although we apprehend the angry or sad face as a unified
past, while adding some important new pieces to the phenomenon, analysis will show that the perceived gestalt
picture. and the co-apprehended emotion arise from two different
sources. The visual gestalt comes to me from the external
world, whereas the felt emotion is drawn from myself. The
1 Lipps perceived face consequently comes to possess psychological
meaning for me because I am projecting myself into it (Lipps
My point of departure, however, will not be the phenom- 1907a, 714). How is this supposed to happen?
enologists, but Theodor Lipps, whose account of empathy Lipps refers to something he calls the instinct of
preceded and influenced the contributions of Scheler, Stein empathy and more specifically argues that it involves two
and Husserl, and from whom they all to varying degrees components, a drive directed towards imitation and a drive
distanced themselves. One reason for briefly discussing directed towards expression (Lipps 1907a, 713). In the
Lipps’ view is consequently that it can serve as a clarifying past, I have been sad. Back then I experienced an instinc-
point of contrast. tual tendency to express the sadness. The expression was
According to Lipps, there are three distinct domains of not experienced as something next to or on top of the
knowledge: (1) knowledge of external objects, (2) self- sadness but as an integral part of the feeling. Now, when I
knowledge, and (3) knowledge of others and he takes these see the expression elsewhere, I have an instinctual ten-
domains to have three distinct cognitive sources, namely dency to imitate or reproduce it, and this tendency will then
perception, introspection and empathy (Lipps 1909, 222). evoke the same feeling that it in the past was intimately
Lipps is consequently quite adamant that empathy must connected to (Lipps 1907a, 719; 1909, 229–230). When I
count as a modality of knowledge sui generis. It is a novum experience the feeling anew, it will remain linked to the
that in no way can be explained by or reduced to some kind expression I am currently perceiving and will be projected
of analogical inference (Lipps 1907a, 697–698, 710). In into or onto it. In short, when I see a sad face, I will
fact, Lipps devotes a considerable amount of effort to reproduce the expression of sadness, this will evoke a
criticise the argument from analogy, and many of his feeling of sadness in me, and this felt sadness that is co-
objections would later resurface in the writings of phe- given with the currently perceived facial expression will
nomenologists such as Scheler and Merleau-Ponty. then be attributed to the other, thereby allowing for a form
But what exactly does Lipps understand by empathy, of interpersonal understanding (Lipps 1907a, 717–719).
which he takes to be a psychological (and sociological) Importantly, we do not merely project psychological
core concept? How does he define it? One perhaps initially meaning into the expressions we see. We also tend to
slightly surprising claim of his is that empathy is a question believe that they really do contain mental life, and that this
of self-objectification (Lipps 1909, 222). We shouldn’t is not merely something that has been added by us. That
forget, however, the aesthetic origin of the notion (Lipps this is so is, according to Lipps, a fact that cannot be
1907a, 713). If I experience trees or mountains as animated explained any further. It simply has to be taken for granted
or besouled or if I hear the wind and experience it as as a given (Lipps 1907a, 710, 721).
having a melancholic sound, the source of the psycholog- One implication of Lipps’ model is that there are rather
ical content is in fact myself (Lipps 1907b, 355). What is strict limitations to what I can come to understand
123
Empathy and Other-Directed Intentionality 131
empathically of the other. The imitated expression can only as already indicated, by and large quite critical of his own
evoke an affective state in myself that resembles the positive account. In his 1931 Habilitation Die mitmensch-
affective state of the other, if I have had the affective state lichen Begegnungen in der Milieuwelt Gurwitsch argues
in question in the past (Lipps 1907a, 718–719). Conse- that Lipps’ theory of empathy despite its explicit criticism
quently, I can only understand those of the other’s expe- of the argument from analogy still belongs to the same
riences which I have already enjoyed myself, or to put it class of theories (Gurwitsch 1979, 20). It still accepts the
differently, Lipps’ account of empathy doesn’t allow me to following basic but questionable assumption, that all we
recognize anything in the other that is new, anything that I strictly speaking can be said to perceive is physical quali-
am not already familiar with, anything that I haven’t put ties and their changes, say, the distortion of facial muscles,
there myself. It consequently shouldn’t come as a surprise and that this perceptual input is psychologically meaning-
that Lipps repeatedly speaks of other individuals as mul- less. It is, according to Lipps, only by animating what is
tiplications of one’s own ego, i.e., as products of empathic perceptually given with what we know from our own case
self-objectification (Lipps 1907b, 360), or as Lipps writes that we come to know that we are facing another minded
in his 1905 Die ethischen Grundfragen: creature. It is only by drawing on our own inner experience
that we are able to move from the input to the actual
The other psychological individual is consequently
ascription of mental states, say, joy or happiness, to others.
made by myself out of myself. His inner being is
But is this really plausible or ought we not, as Gurwitsch
taken from mine. The other individual or ego is the
writes, to consider and ultimately endorse the view that the
product of a projection, a reflection, a radiation of
perceptually given, namely the expressive phenomena in
myself - or of what I experience in myself, through
question, already provides us with an access to the mental
the sense perception of an outside physical phenom-
life of others (Gurwitsch 1979, 32, 56)? Gurwitsch further
enon - into this very sensory phenomenon, a peculiar
observes that Lipps’ appeal to instinct is unsatisfactory in
kind of reduplication of myself (Lipps 1905, 17).
that it sets aside the job of analysis (Gurwitsch 1979, 20). A
Lipps’ position is by no means of mere historical similar criticism can be found in Husserl and Stein who in
interest. It has remained influential and has a number of turn claim that Lipps’ reliance on instinct amounts to the
modern heirs. Not surprisingly, it is in particular within the ‘‘bankruptcy of scientific investigation’’ (Stein 2010, 41)
simulationist camp that the notion of empathy has resur- and constitutes a ‘‘refuge of phenomenological ignorance’’
faced as a central category. In his book Simulating Minds, (Husserl 1973a, 24). The most pervasive criticism, how-
Goldman explicitly equates ‘‘empathy theory’’ with ‘‘sim- ever, is directed at Lipps’ claim that (inner) imitation
ulation theory’’ (Goldman 2006, 11), and states that constitutes the basis of empathy.
mindreading is an extended form of empathy (Goldman First of all, such a theory doesn’t explain what it is
2006, 4). According to simulation theory, a necessary supposed to explain. Let us assume that an observed
condition for mindreading ‘‘is that the state ascribed to the expression arouses in me the impulse to imitate it, and that
target is ascribed as a result of the attributor’s instantiating, I as a result of the close link between expression and
undergoing, or experiencing, that very state’’ (Goldman experience, subsequently come to experience the associ-
and Sripada 2005, 208), and the structural similarities ated emotion myself. This might explain why a certain
between Lipps’ and Goldman’s accounts are also brought experience occurs in me, but it does not offer an expla-
to the fore when Goldman writes that he considers a more nation of how I come to understand the other. To be happy
appropriate name for the whole process to be simulation- oneself and to believe that another is happy are two quite
plus-projection (Goldman 2006, 40). Goldman only refers different things (cf. Gurwitsch 1979, 24–25). The former
in passing to Lipps, but in the past, other simulationists event does not per se entail either knowledge about the
such as Iacoboni and Gallese have explicitly referred to and origin of the feeling, or knowledge about the similarity
endorsed Lipps’ idea that empathy involves a form of inner between one’s own feeling and that of the other. The
imitation (Gallese 2003, 519; Iacoboni 2007, 314). other’s affective state might be the cause of my own, but it
also needs to be its intentional object if we are to speak of
any kind of social comprehension (Stein 2010, 22–24).
2 The Phenomenological Criticism of Lipps1 Rather than explaining empathy, that is, empathy under-
stood as an experience of the minded life of others, Lipps’
Whereas Lipps’ criticism of the argument from analogy account is consequently better geared to handle something
found approval among later phenomenologists, they were, like motor mimicry or emotional contagion. There is
therefore, as Stein puts it, a discrepancy between the phe-
1
The following overview of the phenomenological reception nomenon to be explained and the phenomenon actually
of Lipps owes much to Zahavi (2010). explained (Stein 2010, 24).
123
132 D. Zahavi
Of course, Lipps actually did argue that empathy discussion of some of the important differences between
involves two steps: imitation and projection. My perception their respective positions—my aim is to highlight some
of the other’s expression will evoke, in a rather mediated common ideas that are both distinct and significant. As
way, a feeling in myself, and this feeling is then attributed Ingarden would later observe, Scheler’s, Stein’s and Hus-
to the other through projection. However, rather than serl’s contribution to the debate made it ‘‘increasingly clear
solving the problems, the appeal to projection merely that the classical theory of empathy, which considered it a
aggravates them, since Lipps never manages to justify the kind of projection of one’s own psychical states into for-
epistemic legitimacy of the projection. Lipps himself eign bodies, had to be replaced by a theory that took
pointed to the similarity between the projection found in empathy to be a special kind of perception of the psychical
empathy and the projection found in animism, and as states as they are manifest in the bodily expression’’ (In-
Scheler observes, Lipps’ theory remains incapable of garden 1994, 170–171).
accounting for the difference between a correct and an What might be slightly surprising, however, is that not
incorrect projection (Scheler 2008, 241). As this latter all phenomenologists were equally happy about the term
criticism suggests, Scheler’s own investigation isn’t merely ‘‘empathy’’. Husserl did use it, but his preferred term,
descriptive. It isn’t merely a question of describing how we especially in his later writings, was simply ‘‘other-experi-
de facto seem to experience others. Scheler is also inter- ence’’ (Fremderfahrung). As for Scheler, he unfortunately
ested in the normative question of whether our under- didn’t stick to a single term when referring to our experi-
standing of others can be justified experientially. ential understanding of others. Rather, he used terms such
Ultimately, however, the phenomenologists do not as Nachfühlen (reproduction of feeling), Nachleben
merely dismiss the proposal that imitation should be suf- (reproduction of experience), or Fremdwahrnehmung
ficient for empathic understanding. They also question (perception of other minds) (Scheler 2008, 9, 238). For
whether it is at necessary. On Lipps’ account, I can only want of a better term, I have decided to use ‘‘empathy’’ as
ascribe pain or happiness to another, if I undergo the same the best way of capturing what Scheler was referring to
experiences myself. Indeed, if the imitation is to serve any when he spoke of a basic experience of others. Now, it so
explanatory purpose, my own felt pain or joy must precede happens that Scheler himself only uses the German term
rather than follow my conscious recognition of the pain or Einfühlung rather sparingly and when he does frequently
joy in the other. But aren’t we able to understand expres- rather dismissively as part of his criticism of Lipps.
sions that we are unable to imitate—say if we suffer from However, as I see it, Scheler’s reservation is mainly due to
facial paralysis? And how plausible is it to claim that I his categorical rejection of the former’s projective theory of
have to be scared myself in order to understand that my empathy (2008, xlviii), and it is telling that other contem-
child is scared, or that I need to become furious myself if I porary phenomenologists referred to Scheler’s own theory
am to recognize the fury in the face of my assailant as a theory of empathy (cf. Husserl 1950, 173). If we finally
(Husserl 1973a, 188)? We might encounter a furious consider Stein, she explicitly defines empathy as a form of
stranger and become furious ourselves, but our empathic intentionality directed at foreign experiences and specifi-
understanding of the stranger’s emotion might also elicit cally asks us to disregard any other traditional connotation
the reverse response, namely a feeling of fear. In either the term might have (Stein 2010, 14). It is for this very
case, however, our emotional reaction is exactly that—a reason that Stein can write that Scheler’s polemic against
reaction. It might well be that the emotions we perceive in empathy is not directed against what she calls empathy
others induce emotional resonances and action tendencies (Stein 2010, 42). I will adopt Stein’s usage, and when I in
in our own bodies and that these responses then feed into the following refer to the accounts of empathy found in
and influence the way we apprehend the other, but there is Scheler, Husserl and Stein, I will be referring to their
a decisive difference between acknowledging this and respective accounts of how we experience others.
defending the view that our understanding of the other’s As this last remark should make clear, the ultimate goal
emotion requires us to have that very emotion ourselves. of the present contribution is not to determine once and for
It is now time to proceed to the more positive accounts all what empathy is. It is fairly obvious that one reason why
offered by Scheler, Stein and Husserl, but before taking it continues to be so difficult to reach a commonly accepted
that step, a couple of cautionary remarks: definition is because people have been using the notion of
Given the size of their work, it is impossible in a single empathy to designate quite different phenomena. Although
article to do justice to the complexity of any one of these one could make the case that one ought to stick to the
thinkers, let alone all three of them. So the following traditional use of the term—it was as already mentioned
overview will most definitely not constitute an exhaustive introduced by Lipps as a general term for our under-
presentation and analysis. But although I will have to leave standing of others—instead of identifying it with, say,
many details unaddressed—and this will also include a prosocial behaviour or a very special kind of imaginative
123
Empathy and Other-Directed Intentionality 133
perspective taking, it is not evident that such a strategy such elements. What could guide this combination if not a
would be particular productive or illuminating. Thus, my prior understanding of the end result (2008, 47)? Scheler’s
primary goal in the following is simply to make the case criticism highlights one of the challenges facing any
that we by looking at the phenomenological analyses of account arguing that empathy requires a significant sim-
empathy can find important insights that contemporary ilarity between the empathizer and the target. The obvious
debates on social cognition and interpersonal understand- question to ask is how specific the match must be in order
ing ought to incorporate. to count as significantly similar. To claim that I can
empathize with someone who is distressed because of the
death of her 2-year old Airedale Terrier or with someone
3 Scheler who is suffering because of an attack of biliary colic, only
if I have been distressed over the loss of the same kind of
On Scheler’s view, empathy is not simply a question of dog or undergone a gallbladder attack with the same kind
intellectually judging that somebody else is undergoing a of intensity in the past is hardly convincing. By contrast,
certain experience. It is not the mere thought that this is the to claim that I can only empathize with a minded creature
case; rather, Scheler defends the view that we are em- if I have a mind myself seems eminently plausible, but
pathically able to experience other minds (Scheler 2008, also quite trivial. If an imitation based account of
10). It is no coincidence that Scheler repeatedly speaks of empathy is to say something plausible, yet nontrivial, it
the perception of others (Fremdwahrnehmung) and even must position itself somewhere in between these two
entitles his own theory a perceptual theory of other minds extremes. The question is where. Must the empathizer feel
(Scheler 2008, 220). (or have felt or in principle be able to feel) the exact same
For Scheler, empathy is what allows me to understand kind of emotion or sensation, say, mortification or nau-
other experiencing subjects. It neither entails that the oth- sea? Is it enough if the empathizer is first-personally
er’s experience is literally transmitted to me, nor does it acquainted with a member of the same family of emo-
entail that I undergo the experience I observe in the other. tions, or might it be sufficient if the empathizer has
Rather, to empathically experience, say, the emotion of simply had (or is in principle able to have) an emotion
another necessarily differs from the way you would expe- with the same kind of valence? The less specific the
rience the emotion if it were your own. Scheler conse- demand is, the more plausible the account might be. But
quently rejects the proposal that emotional contagion or obviously, this increase of plausibility goes hand in hand
mimicry should be the paradigm of automatic empathy (cf. with a decrease in explanatory power. For Scheler the
Hodges and Wegner 1997; Darwall 1998, 264–266), and matter is in any case clear. It is simply not true that we
also criticizes the suggestion that empathy should be based can only empathically understand experiences in others
on a direct association between cues coming from others that we have ourselves undergone in the past. For him,
and one’s own similar past experiences, as if one’s ability such a claim has as little merit as the claim that we can
to empathize with, say, parents who have lost their only never come to understand something new, but only that
child or a drowning man fighting for his life, would not which we have already experienced before. As Cassirer
only be conditional on one having oneself gone through was later to write, one of Scheler’s important contribu-
such an ordeal, but would even entail an actual reproduc- tions was to have shown that the understanding of
tion of that past experience. What is overlooked by such a expressive phenomena is a primitive and that it alone
proposal is, according to Scheler, the extent to which we constitutes the bridge that can lead us into the realm of
are able to grasp another person’s state of mind directly in the ‘‘thou’’ (1957, 87). Thus, one problem with the pro-
the available expressive phenomena. Moreover, not only is jective theory of empathy is precisely that it imprisons us
such a reproduction unnecessary, but if it was a require- within our own mind. It fails to do justice to the genuine
ment, it would be a source of error rather than a way to and true self-transcendence that we find in empathy; to
insight, since it would lead to personal distress and egoistic the fact that empathic understanding can expand our life
drift (Scheler 2008, 46–47). and lead us beyond the limitations of our own actual
Scheler also dismisses the suggestion that the empa- experience (Scheler 2008, 47, 49).
thizer must at the very least have been first-personally Despite Scheler’s emphasis on the visibility and per-
acquainted with some of the basic elements of the ceptually accessibility of other minds, it is, however,
empathized experience. As he points out, not only does important to realize that Scheler isn’t committing the
such a proposal mistakenly think that an experience is mistake of claiming that all aspects of the experiential life
composed of atomistic mental particles, but it also leaves of an individual is equally accessible to others. Whereas we
it entirely unclear how one should subsequently recon- in some cases can intuit the other’s experiences, there are
struct the experience to be understood on the basis of on Scheler’s account also some important limitations.
123
134 D. Zahavi
Bodily sensations constitute one of these limitations basic cognitive source for our comprehension of foreign
(Scheler 2008, 255). I can have the same kind of headache subjects and their experiences, and it is what more complex
or kidney pain as someone else, but I cannot literarily kinds of social cognition rely on and presuppose (Stein
perceive his or her specific pain or, say, gustatory sensa- 2010, V, 4).
tions. This is a crucial clarification, since it immunizes One of the recurrent questions that kept preoccupying
Scheler from an obvious objection. If I observe a man both Husserl and Stein was how to understand the inten-
enjoying his dinner or a woman in labour pains, what I am tional structure of empathy. On Husserl’s standard model,
able to empathically and experientially comprehend, on we have to distinguish between signitive, pictorial, and
Scheler’s model, is not the specific taste of, say, smoked perceptual ways of intending an object: I can talk about
salmon or the specificity of the pain sensation, but rather Mount Fuji, although I have never seen it; I can see a
the general state of enjoyment or suffering. Thus, Scheler detailed drawing of Mount Fuji; or I can perceive Mount
even concedes that the only way to understand the specific Fuji myself. Similarly, I can talk about how fantastic it
sensations that another person (or animal) is living through must be to fly in a hot air balloon, I can see a television
is through reproduction. In short, whereas I might see that a program about it; or I can experience it myself. For Husserl
child or a bat is exhausted, if I want to know what it is like these different ways of intending are not unrelated. On the
for someone to taste Papaya juice, I have to taste the juice contrary, there is a strict hierarchical relation between
myself (Scheler 2008, 48). them, in the sense that the modes can be ranked according
On the other hand, although Scheler obviously concedes to their ability to give us the object as directly, originally
that we can learn something about the other from his and optimally as possible. The object can be experienced
automatic and involuntary expressions, he also insists that more or less directly, that is, it can be more or less present.
there is a limit to how far this will get us, especially since The tricky question is where to place empathy within this
there are dimensions of the mind that aren’t tied to bodily classification. The answer given by both Husserl and Stein
expressions. If we wish to grasp what Scheler calls the is that empathy is both like and unlike perception. Empathy
spiritual being of the other, that is the essence of his per- is unlike perception in that it does not give us its object, the
sonhood, we need to rely on communication. More spe- empathized experience, originally. There will always, and
cifically, Scheler claims that the distinct cognitive activities by necessity, remain a difference in givenness between that
of the other person, his or her thoughts, will remain con- which I am aware of when I empathize with the other, and
cealed and hidden, until the other decides to reveal and that which the other is experiencing. Indeed, what distin-
communicate them (Scheler 2008, 102, 225). This is why guishes empathy is precisely that the empathized experi-
language proves so essential for higher forms of social ence is given as belonging to the other. However, although
understanding. Yet, even then, there will remain something empathy differs from perception by not giving us the object
ineffable in the other. There is, according to Scheler, an originally, it does resemble perception insofar as its object,
absolute intimate sphere of foreign personhood that even say, the empathized pain or distress, is given directly,
the act of free communicative intention cannot disclose unmediated and non-inferentially as present here and now
(Scheler 2008, 66, 219). (Stein 2010, 5). To exemplify, consider a situation where a
friend tells me that he has lost his mother, and I become
aware of his distress. What kind of awareness is this? I do
4 Husserl and Stein2 not see the distress the same way I see the colour of his
shirt, rather I see the distress ‘‘in’’ his pained countenance
Let us move on to Husserl and Stein. In Phänomenologi- (Stein 2010, 5). On her account, this more complex act that
sche Psychologie Husserl writes as follows: ‘‘The inten- allows for a co-apprehension of that which is expressed in
tionality in one‘s own ego that leads into the foreign ego is the expression still deserves to be called a form of per-
the so-called empathy’’ (Husserl 1962, 321). This is also ception. Why? Because although I certainly do lack a first-
the view of Stein, who repeatedly argues that empathy person experience of the distress—it is not given as my
rather than being a distinct and specific emotion (like distress—it is nevertheless the case that I experience rather
embarrassment, shame or pride) is the name for a sui than imagine or infer my friend’s distress. Stein conse-
generis form of intentionality directed at other experienc- quently contrasts empathy with a more cognitive compre-
ing subjects (Stein 2010, 4, 68). Thus, for Stein, empathy is hension of the other’s experience that intends the foreign
quite generally the term of choice for the experience [Er- experience without grasping it directly. This could for
fahrung] of foreign consciousness (Stein 2010, 10). It is the instance happen, if somebody wrote me and informed me
that he was sad. Based on this information I could then
2
My discussion of Husserl’s account of empathy is largely adapted grasp his state of mind, but his sadness would not be given
from Zahavi (2012), which contains a far more detailed presentation. to me perceptually (Stein 2010, 92). In this latter case, we
123
Empathy and Other-Directed Intentionality 135
would be dealing with an indirect comprehension of the cannot give us the empathized experience itself in its ori-
other that is derivative and refers back to empathy under- ginal presence (Husserl 1950, 139; 1952, 199–200; 1973a,
stood as a more basic experiential grasp of the other’s 347, 440; 1974, 389). On occasions, Husserl even claims
experience (Stein 2010, 20, 26). It is precisely the possi- that foreign psychical life is in principle inaccessible to
bility of such an experiential givenness that on Stein’s view direct perception (Husserl 1966, 240). The other’s experi-
is ignored by those favouring the argument from analogy. ence can only be appresented through a special form of
Now, Stein is by no means denying that we occasionally apperception, or to use a different terminology, it is co-
employ this kind of inferential reasoning, but on her view, intended and characterized by a certain co-presence (Hus-
it never provides us with an experience of other minds, but serl 1973a, 27; 2002, 107).
only with a more or less probable knowledge of others’ As might be clear by now, there is a certain tension or
mental states (Stein 2010, 29). uncertainty in Husserl’s account. I think, however, that it is
Not surprisingly, we find rather similar considerations in possible to reconcile Husserl’s different claims by means
Husserl. In Ideen II and elsewhere Husserl distinguishes two of some slight reformulations. Husserl’s occasional insis-
different attitudes that we can take towards the other, a tence on the indirect nature of empathy is obviously
naturalistic and a personalistic. In the naturalistic attitude, motivated by his worry that any claim concerning a direct
the other is given in a twofold step as a composite entity. experiential understanding of others would amount to the
First, the other’s body is given to us as a material unity and claim that we have the same kind of first-personal access to
functionally dependent upon and located in this material other people’s consciousness as we have to our own, i.e.,
object, the other’s experiential life is then posited as a that the only way in which the mental states of another
founded stratum. Husserl then contrasts this attitude, which could be given directly to us would be for us to be in those
is prevalent in the sciences, with the personalistic attitude, states. Had that been the case, the experiences of others
which is the attitude of our daily life, and which is the one he would have become our own and no longer remained that
takes to be the more fundamental. In this attitude, the other is of others (Husserl 1973c, 12). But this worry is, I think,
from the beginning given in a unified manner as a person, ultimately misguided. It assumes that there is a single gold
rather than as a composite of two externally intertwined or standard of what directness amounts to, and that a direct
causally related entities (Husserl 1952, 228). When access to one’s own mental life constitutes the standard
encountering the other in the personalistic attitude, when I against which everything else has to be measured. In other
see the other dance, laugh or discuss something, I don’t see a contexts, however, Husserl is careful to point out that it is
conjunction of two realities, but one expressive unity. I don’t unacceptable to transfer the demands we put on evidence in
see a mere body, nor do I through the body intend an annexed one domain to other domains where these demands are in
mind. I see a human being. More specifically, Husserl speaks principle incapable of being realized (Husserl 1976, 321).
of how the mindedness of the other, his thinking, feeling, And there are even places where Husserl emphasizes that it
desiring, is intuitively present in the gestures, the intonation would be a mistake to measure empathy against the stan-
and in the facial expressions. Indeed, the expressivity of the dards of either self-perception or external object percep-
other is imbued with psychological meaning from the start tion. Empathy has its own kind of originality, its own kind
(Husserl 1952, 235), and according to Husserl, it is precisely of fulfilment and corroboration and its own criteria of
empathy that allows us to understand and grasp this psy- success and failure (Husserl 1954, 189; 1973a, 225; 1973b,
chological meaning (Husserl 1952, 244). 352, 385; 2003, 65, 122).
In some places, Husserl writes that empathy is a distinct Employing that insight, one could respect the difference
and direct kind of empirical experience, one that allows the between first-person and third-person access to psycho-
empathizing ego to experience the consciousness of the logical states without making the mistake of restricting and
other (Husserl 1973a, 187). Husserl also claims that equating experiential access with first-person access. To
empathy is what allows the other to be present to me, put it differently, why not argue that it is possible to
perceptually present (Husserl 1973c, 514), and that the experience minds in more than one way? Arguably, there is
other is given to me originally in empathy, for what I see is no more direct way of knowing that another is in pain than
not a sign, not a mere analogue, but rather the other seeing him writhe in pain. Husserl is not as clear and
(Husserl 1950, 153; 1973c, 506; 1973b, 385; 1993, 182). consistent on this issue as one could have wished for, but as
Likewise, Husserl speaks of how the other is given in his the following quote from Erste Philosophie II might
being-for-me (für-mich-sein) in empathy, and how that illustrate, I do not think such a proposal would be dis-
counts as a form of perception (Husserl 1973b, 352; 1973c, agreeable to his way of thinking:
641). At the same time, however, Husserl also insists that
Just as what is past can be originally given as past
even the most perfect perception of the psychical life of
only through memory, and what is to come in the
another lacks the originality of self-perception. Empathy
123
136 D. Zahavi
future can as such only be originally given through say, the absent mother, the distress is given to me in a quite
expectation, the foreign can only be originally given peculiar manner. It is not felt as my own distress, nor as a
as foreign through empathy. Original givenness in remembered distress, let alone simply as an imagined
this sense is the same as experience (Husserl 1959, distress. No, it is throughout given to me as the other’s
176). distress, as a distress lived through by the other (Stein
2010, 10). This is precisely what is peculiar and distinct
Furthermore, as Husserl repeatedly stresses, the fact that
about empathy, and this is why Stein continues to label
my experiential access to the minds of others differs from
empathy a sui generis kind of experience (Stein 2010, 10).
my experiential access to my own mind is not an imper-
If we move on to Husserl, we also find him distinguishing
fection or shortcoming. On the contrary, it is a difference
different levels of empathy. The most fundamental form of
that is constitutional. It is precisely because of this differ-
empathy is the one that allows us to apprehend the per-
ence, precisely because of this asymmetry, that we can
ceptually given body as a lived body, i.e., most fundamen-
claim that the minds we experience are other minds
tally as a sensing body (Husserl 1973a, 70, 66, 435–436).
(Husserl 1950, 139). In addition, although I do not have
This form of sensual empathy [to use a term by Stein (2010,
access to the first-personal character of the other’s expe-
66)], which Husserl also calls animal apperception (ani-
rience, although I do not experience it as it is experienced
malische Apperzeption) or experience of animality, happens
by the other, the fact that there is more to the other’s
passively or associatively (Husserl 1973a, 455, 475–476).
experience than what I am grasping is salient to me, as
Husserl then contrasts this most basic and fundamental kind
Husserl repeatedly emphasizes (Husserl 1950, 144; 1973c,
of empathy with a more active form that targets the
631). To demand more, to claim that I would only have a
understanding of that which is expressed in bodily expres-
real experience of the other if I experienced her feelings or
sions, namely beliefs, decisions, attitudes (Husserl 1973a,
thoughts in the same way as she herself does, is nonsen-
435). In a manuscript from 1931 or 1932, he operates with
sical, and fails to respect what is distinct and unique about
even more levels. The first level of empathy is the appre-
the givenness of the other.
sentation of the foreign lived body as sensing and perceiv-
ing. The second level is the appresentation of the other as
physically acting, say, moving, pushing, or carrying some-
5 The Objects and Levels of Empathy thing. The third level goes beyond this and attends to the
purposefulness of the action and grasps, say, the running of
So far, the discussion might have suggested that empathy the other as flight, etc. (Husserl 1973c, 435). On a few
for both Husserl and Stein is a unitary concept and that its occasions, Husserl goes even further and also speaks of the
object is the other subject. Both assumptions must be kind of empathy involved in appropriating foreign traditions
modified. (Husserl 1973c, 436; 2006, 372–373).
In the course of her investigation, Stein distinguishes In other words, although Husserl would claim that a first
different levels of accomplishment (Vollzugsstufen) (Stein level of empathy is constituted by coupling, by a passive
2010, 19). At first, I might be confronted with the doubt or and involuntary associative bonding of self and other on
elation in the other’s face, and I might have a vague and the basis of their bodily similarity (cf. Zahavi 2012), he
relatively empty comprehension of the other’s experience. would maintain that this is only the first primitive level and
But if I then try to better understand it, if I try to explicate would never agree with the claim that it amounts to the full
its character, I will no longer face the other’s experiential range of interpersonal understanding. The latter only
state as an object. Rather, its intentionality will pull me reaches its culmination in acts of communication. Thus, we
along, and I will turn towards its intentional object. It is shouldn’t overlook that expressions can also be voluntary
only after I have successfully accomplished this clarifica- and serve communicative purposes. When I seek to influ-
tion, that I again will face the other’s experience as an ence the other, and when the other is aware that he is being
object, but this time with an increased comprehension. To addressed and when he reciprocates, we are dealing with
exemplify, consider a situation where you come across a communicative acts through which a higher interpersonal
crying child. Empathy will allow you to discern the child’s unity, a we, is established, and through which the world
distress, even before you know why the child is upset. But acquires the character of a truly social world (Husserl 1952,
if your empathy goes deeper, it will seek to understand 192–194; 1973a, 498; 1973c, 472).
what it is that has upset the child. Finally, after having Incidentally, Husserl and Stein are not the only ones to
grasped the object of the emotion, you will again turn distinguish levels of empathy. In the contemporary debate,
towards the child, but this time with a better (and more various people have defended the idea that empathy rather
fulfilled) understanding of her distress. Even when I follow than being a unitary phenomenon is in fact a multidimen-
the intentional pull of the child’s distress and turn towards, sional construct. Defenders of the latter view include de
123
Empathy and Other-Directed Intentionality 137
Vignemont who distinguishes mirror empathy and recon- Scheler 2008, 249; Stein 2010, 30–32). Their worry is
structive empathy (2010), and Stueber who distinguishes obviously that Scheler by making such a claim downplays
basic empathy, which he defines as a mechanism of inner what they take to be an essential difference between self-
imitation that underlies our theoretically unmediated quasi- experience and other-experience, thereby leading to fusion
perceptual ability to recognize other creatures directly as and confusion. I think, however, that this specific contro-
minded creatures, from reenactive empathy, which he versy is more apparent than real. First, Scheler specifically
defines as involving the use of our cognitive and deliber- defines inner intuition as an act that grasps the psychical,
ative capacities to reenact or imitate the thought processes regardless of whether it is my own or that of the other
of others (Stueber 2006, 20–21). In both of these authors, (Scheler 2008, 249). In and of itself, this definition does not
however, empathy is conceived within the conceptual involve or entail a disregard of the difference between one’s
framework of simulation theory. I will return to this own experiences and those of the other. And in fact, Stein
shortly. concedes that such a definition is compatible with her own
If we move on to the question regarding the proper object account of empathy. Secondly, although Scheler does
of empathy, Husserl actually denies that I normally thema- indeed highlight the visibility and perceivability of some of
tize the other as an object when empathizing. Rather, when the other’s psychological states, he also, as already men-
empathically understanding the other, I so to speak go along tioned, repeatedly emphasizes that there are dimensions of
with his or her experiences, and attend to their object (Hus- the other that are ‘‘absolutely inaccessible to any kind of
serl 1973c, 427, 513; 2003, 617). It is consequently important experiential sharing’’ (Scheler 2008, 66).
to emphasize that the other, rather than being given to me But what about the following passage from Wesen und
simply as a nucleus of experiences, is given as a centre of Formen der Sympathie, where Scheler speaks of
orientation, as a perspective on the world. To put it differ-
an immediate flow of experiences, undifferentiated as
ently, the other is not given in isolation or purity for me,
between mine and thine, which actually contains both
rather the other is given as intentional, as directed at the same
our own and others’ experiences intermingled and
world as I, and the other’s world, and the objects that are
without distinction from one another. Within this
there for him, is given along with the other (Husserl 1950,
flow there is a gradual formation of ever more stable
154; 1952, 168; 1973a, 411; 1973b, 140, 287; Cf. Stein 2010,
vortices, which slowly attract further elements of the
68–69). This is of course, one reason why our perception of
stream into their orbits and thereby become succes-
others is so unlike our ordinary perception of objects. As
sively and very gradually identified with distinct
soon as the other appears on the scene, my relation to the
individuals (2008, 246).
world will change, since the other will always be given to me
in a situation or meaningful context that points back to the This quote suggests that the differentiation between self
other as a new centre of reference. The meaning the world and other is derivative and founded, and that it might be
has for the other affects the meaning it has for me. Or to based on some kind of undifferentiated stratum of expe-
phrase it using a concept coming from developmental psy- rience. If this is a correct reading, it would present a
chology, for both Husserl and Stein empathy and social problem for my interpretation. Consider, however, the
referencing are closely linked. direct continuation of the quote:
At the same time, however, both Husserl and Stein
But the essential links in the process are simply the
recognize that I can be part of what the other intends. So
facts: (1) that every experience belongs in general to
again, when I experience others, I do not merely experience
a self, so that wherever an experience is given a self
them as psychophysical objects in the world, rather I
is also given, in a general sense; (2) that this self is
experience them as subjects who experience worldly
necessarily an individual self, present throughout
objects, myself included (Husserl 1950, 158; 1952, 169;
every experience (in so far as such experiences are
1973c, 4–5). In fact, through my experience of others, I
adequately given), and not therefore primarily con-
precisely can come to attain a new experience of myself, I
stituted by the interconnection between them. (3)
can come to adopt an alienating attitude towards myself
That there is an ‘I’ and a ‘Thou’ in a general sense.
and thereby come to see myself as others see me. To that
But which individual self it may be, that owns a given
extent, empathy can count as an important source of self-
experience, whether it is our own or another’s, is
knowledge (Stein 2010, 130).
something that is not necessarily apparent in the
How should one compare and assess the relation between
experience as immediately presented (2008, 246).
Scheler’s view and that of Husserl and Stein? Both of the
latter strongly object to the former’s claim that we can This passage hardly supports the claim that Scheler should
experience not only our own experiences, but also those of defend the view that there is a fundamental stratum of pre-
another, through a kind of inner experience or intuition (cf. individuated undifferentiated experiencing. This, of course,
123
138 D. Zahavi
still leaves it a somewhat open question how precisely then target, the empathizer must also cognitively assign or
to interpret Scheler’s reference to an undifferentiated flow ascribe the mental state to the target. Insofar as
of experience. One possibility, which I cannot pursue any empathy on this account requires some cognitive grasp
further here, but which at least should be mentioned, is to and some self-other differentiation, low-level simula-
employ the distinction between authorship and ownership tion like mimicry and contagion would be excluded.
and argue that although an experience for essential reasons 3. Finally, there are those who emphasize the cognitive
always remained owned, it might have no clear author. dimension and argue that empathy doesn’t require
It is certainly not as if Scheler, Stein and Husserl are sharing, but that it simply refers to any process by
agreeing on everything, but there is still, I think, a suffi- means of which one comes to know the other’s mental
cient amount of overlap between their respective theories state, regardless of how theoretical or inferential the
to warrant talking about a distinct phenomenological process might be.
account of and approach to empathy. The following quote As far as I can judge, Battaly’s tripartition really does
by Scheler is one that Husserl and Stein could both accept capture the currently dominant positions, but I would
without any qualms: suggest that the phenomenologists offer us a fourth option:
That we cannot be aware of an experience without For the phenomenologists, empathy is not simply the
being aware of a self is something which is directly having of the mental state (like in contagion), nor is it a
based upon the intuitable intrinsic connection question of literally sharing the mental state with some-
between individual and experience. […] It is a cor- body else (which they take to be something over and above
ollary of this that the other person has – like ourselves the empathic recognition of the other’s mental state), nor is
– a sphere of absolute personal privacy, which can it a question of just abstractly ascribing a certain mental
never be given to us. But that ‘experiences’ occur state to another. Rather, and to repeat, for the phenome-
there is given for us in expressive phenomena – nologists empathy is quite generally the term of choice for
again, not by inference, but directly, as a sort of the experience of foreign consciousness. It is a distinctive
primary perception. It is in the blush that we perceive form of other-directed intentionality, distinct from both
shame, in the laughter joy. To say that ‘our only self-awareness and ordinary object-intentionality, which
initial datum is the body’ is completely erroneous. allows foreign experiences to disclose themselves as
This is true only for the doctor or the scientist, i.e., for foreign rather than as own. Contrary to some current
man in so far as he abstracts artificially from the proposals, none of the phenomenologists would accept the
expressive phenomena, which have an altogether claim that one can only empathize with affective states,
primary givenness (Scheler 2008, 9–10). rather they would take empathy to refer to our general
ability to access the life of the mind of others in their
expressions, expressive behaviour and meaningful actions.
6 Theory of Mind We can see the other’s elation or doubt, surprise or
attentiveness in his or her face, we can hear the other’s
As I pointed out in the beginning, there is currently no trepidation, impatience or bewilderment in her voice, feel
consensus about what empathy is. Rather, what one finds in the other’s enthusiasm in his handshake, grasp his mood in
the contemporary debate is a multitude of competing def- his posture, and see her determination and persistence in
initions. One rather useful way of mapping some of the her actions. Thus, we should not forget that we also express
central options has been provided by Heather Battaly in a or manifest our mental states by acting on them. My fear or
recent article (2011). In her reconstruction, the three main concern isn’t merely revealed to others in my facial
positions are as follows: expressions, but also in my running away from what
1. Some conceive of empathy as a sharing of mental terrifies me or in my attempts to console somebody who is
states, where sharing is taken to mean that the grieving.
empathizer and the target must have roughly the same Empathy is the experience of the embodied mind of the
type of mental state. On this account, empathy does other, an experience which rather than eliminating the
not involve knowledge about the other, it doesn’t difference between self-experience and other-experience
require knowing that the other has the mental state in takes the asymmetry to be a necessary and persisting
question. Various forms of contagion and mimicry existential fact. One can consequently not empathize with
consequently count as prime examples of empathy. unowned experiences. The givenness of the empathized
2. Others argue that empathy requires both sharing and experiences differs from the givenness of the experiences I
knowing. Thus, it is not enough that there is a match am living through first-personally. The empathized expe-
between the mental state of the empathizer and the riences are given as belonging to another; they are given as
123
Empathy and Other-Directed Intentionality 139
lived through first-personally by that other. To that extent, involves a simulation-plus-projection routine, that is,
the phenomenological analysis of empathy is in perfect where empathy is taken to be a projective process that
accord with that tradition’s focus on and respect for the centrally involves either the imaginative adaptation of
first-personal character of Consciousness. In fact, there another person’s point of view or at least some form of
might be some affinity between the phenomenological inner imitation (cf. Goldman 2006, 40; Stueber 2006, 15,
account of empathy and what Robbins and Jack have called 28). As we have already seen, the phenomenologists
adopting the phenomenal stance, where this involves explicitly and repeatedly reject the view that imitation is
regarding the other as a locus of phenomenal experience the paradigm of empathy. If presented with Goldman’s
(and not simply as a system of intentional states) and view, they would have argued that such an account con-
having some felt appreciation of the qualitative and flates empathy with other kinds of interpersonal under-
hedonic character of the other’s phenomenal states (Rob- standing and ultimately, due to a misbegotten Cartesian
bins and Jack 2006, 69–70). Furthermore, according to the heritage, disregards the fact that we can and do experience
phenomenological proposal, empathy takes different forms, other minds.
it has different stages or levels, and can provide a special Although the two main paradigms in the contemporary
kind of understanding, one that, to use a Husserlian ter- theory of mind debate, the theory–theory of mind and the
minology, provides intuitive fulfilment, confirmation or simulation theory of mind, are not necessarily committed
satisfaction to more indirect or signitive ways of intending to the invisibility claim, i.e., to the claim that the mental
or judging about other people’s mental lives. Importantly, states of others are unobservable, it is undeniable that
when saying that empathy can provide a special kind of prominent defenders of both approaches have often
understanding, this is not meant to suggest that empathy assumed that other minds are in fact characterized by a
provides an especially profound or deep kind of under- fundamental invisibility. They remain concealed and hid-
standing. In order to obtain that, theoretical inferences and den, and it is precisely because we lack a direct experiential
imaginative simulations might very well be needed. No, the access to the mental states of others—which are frequently
specificity of the access is due to the fact that it is basic and described as ‘‘inherently unobservable constructs’’
intuitive, i.e., the empathized experience is given directly (Mitchell 2008)—that we need to rely on and employ either
as existing here and now, thereby making empathic theoretical inferences or internal simulations. Without a
understanding very different from, say, reasoning that the commitment to a view like this, the constant appeal to
other is upset, because the letter she received has been torn internal imitations and projections and abductive infer-
up, or inferring that the other is drunk because he is sur- ences would make little sense. Indeed, as Epley and Waytz
rounded by a dozen empty beer bottles, or concluding that repeatedly state in their survey chapter on Mind Perception
the other must be furious because I would be furious if I in The Handbook of Social Psychology: Others’ mental
had been subjected to the same treatment as he. states are unobservable and inherently invisible and it is
One implication (and limitation) of the phenomenolog- precisely because people lack direct information about
ical proposal is that it by highlighting and emphasizing the others’ mental states that they must base their inferences on
intuitive character of empathy also restricts it to face-to- whatever information about others that they do have access
face based forms of interpersonal encounter. On many to. They must make a leap from the observable behaviour
other accounts, and this is also reflected in colloquial to the unobservable mental states, a leap employing either
speech, it makes perfect sense to say that we can feel simulation or theoretical inference (Epley and Waytz 2009,
empathy, not only towards individuals not present, or 499, 505, 518). Thus theory–theory and simulation theory
whole groups of people, but even towards fictive literary have frequently shared a fundamental background
figures. For the phenomenologists such uses of the term assumption, namely that the minds of others are hidden,
must at the very least be considered derivative. Moreover, which is why they have considered one of the main chal-
it might be objected that any claims to the effect that lenges facing a theory of social cognition to be the question
people in Copenhagen felt empathy with those affected by of how and why we start ascribing such hidden mental
the March 11 tsunami and earthquake in Japan, is prob- entities or processes to certain publicly observable bodies.
lematic in that it blurs the distinction not only between Here are a few representative quotes:
empathy and sympathy, but also between empathy under-
One of the most important powers of the human mind
stood as a perception-based experiential access to the
is to conceive of and think about itself and other
minds of others and a more cognitively demanding form of
minds. Because the mental states of others (and
imaginative perspective taking.
indeed of ourselves) are completely hidden from the
One way to further highlight the distinctive character
senses, they can only ever be inferred (Leslie 1987,
of the phenomenological proposal is by contrasting it with
139).
the simulationist proposal, according to which empathy
123
140 D. Zahavi
Empathy involves a leap of imagination into someone indeterminate horizon of not expressed interiority (Husserl
else’s headspace. While you can try to figure out 2005, 70), and a complete knowledge of the other will for-
other persons’ thoughts and feelings by reading their ever remain impossible. Furthermore, sometimes our direct
faces, their voices, and their postures, ultimately their acquaintance with others might be limited to the bare rec-
internal worlds are not transparent, and to climb ognition of their existence. We immediately perceive the
inside their heads requires imagining what it must be presence of mind, but often fail to discern anything further
like to be them (Baron-Cohen 2005, 170). with regard to it (Duddington 1918–1919, 168).
It might at this point be helpful to consider a threefold
Often the invisibility thesis is asserted without any
distinction. On the one hand, we should distinguish our
argument right at the beginning of the analysis and
ability to ascribe mindedness to another, i.e., our coming to
apparently serves to motivate the ensuing approach. Saxe
understand that another has a mind in the first place, from
and colleagues, for instance, start their article by writing,
our ability to determine another’s specific state of mind. On
Unlike behaviorists, normal adults attribute to one the other hand, we should distinguish our ability to deter-
another (and to themselves) unobservable internal mine or detect the current mental state of another from our
mental states, such as goals, thoughts, and feelings, and ability to reason about a person’s past and future mental
use these to explain and predict behavior. This human states and behaviours. Let me label these different
capacity for reasoning about the mental causes of achievements, the grasping of the that, the what and the
action is called a theory of mind (Saxe et al. 2004, 87). why. Consider to start with, that we in daily life often
wonder whether others like us or not, find us trustworthy or
As I read these statements, the claim is not merely that
not, or attractive or not. We wonder whether others are
propositional attitudes are invisible, but that this holds true
being truthful or deceptive, and whether others are moti-
for our psychological life as such, i.e., for all our mental
vated by greed or generosity. We very rarely wonder
states including our desires, feelings and intentions. They are
whether others are minded in the first place. In fact this is
all hidden from view. But is this assumption really sound? Is
something that is not only taken for granted; it is also
it really true that mental states (be it all of them or only those
something the certitude of which is of a quite different
belonging to others) are invisible constructs and that our
magnitude than whatever certainty we might have regard-
engagement with others as minded creatures is initially (or
ing the ascription of specific mental states to others. As
even exclusively) a question of attributing such hidden states
Gurwitsch wrote at one point, in ordinary life, we are never
to them? Is it really the case that all I can see is the other’s
faced with the choice of whether or not we wish to take the
perspiration, his flushed face, wrinkled forehead, his jerky
people we are meeting in the street or conversing with as
motion of the arms, the hunched lips, the clenched fists and
real people or mere automatons. And as he then asks,
the trembling, but not his fear, embarrassment, desire and
where does this deep-rooted certainty, which far exceeds
frustration? Is it really the case that when faced with a
our confidence in well-confirmed scientific hypotheses,
weeping person, I first perceive drops of liquid rolling from
come from (Gurwitsch 1979, 10–11)?
her eyes, distortions of her facial muscles and broken sounds,
Furthermore, consider the distinction between the what
and only then in a subsequent move come to realize that the
and the why question. It is one thing to determine what a
person is grieving? Since I have discussed the invisibility
person is experiencing or doing, say, being sad or angry or
claim in some detail in other papers (cf. Zahavi 2001, 2007,
reaching for a cup. But even if empathy might allow us to
2008, 2010, 2011), let me here merely state that it is a claim
directly grasp (part of) what a person is experiencing or
that phenomenologists would typically reject. On the phe-
doing, this will not as such provide us with an under-
nomenological proposal, when I empathically grasp the
standing of why somebody is sad or angry or performing
trepidation in the other’s voice or the intentions in her
the action in question. According to the phenomenological
actions, I am experiencing foreign subjectivity, and not
proposal, empathy provides us with an experiential access
merely imagining it, simulating it or theorizing about it. That
to other minds. But although we should recognize its
we can actually experience (rather than merely infer or
importance, we also need to recognize its limitations. There
imagine) the minds of others is, however, not to say that
is a limit to how far empathy (plus sensitivity to the
everything is open to view. Experiential directness does not
immediate context) can get us. Our everyday understanding
entail infallibility or exhaustiveness. Another person’s mind
of others draws on other resources as well. If we wish to
is not exposed in such a way that we immediately, effort-
unearth why somebody is feeling the way he does or why he
lessly and infallibly have complete access to her innermost
is acting the way he does, we might need to consider the
thoughts and feelings. As Husserl points out, the perception
larger social, cultural, and historical context, and this
of others is always partial and is always open for correction
understanding is not provided by empathy.
(Husserl 1973a, 225). In fact, there will always be an
123
Empathy and Other-Directed Intentionality 141
What these distinctions should make clear is that the interpersonal understanding, a recognition of our basic sen-
phenomenologists in addition to being interested in some sitivity to the mindedness of others and, of course, a high-
of the same questions as simulationists and theory-theo- lighting of our experiential grasp of the foreignness of the
rists, namely how we determine the other’s more specific other’s consciousness.
state of mind and come to understand its relation to the As should have become clear, the phenomenologists I
person’s past and future mental states and behaviours, are have been discussing do acknowledge that interpersonal
also interested in a somewhat different question, namely understanding comes in many shapes and forms and that a
the question of how we come to understand that another single model cannot do justice to the whole variety. We
has a mind in the first place. A standard claim has precisely should consequently be wary of any theory that claimed that
been that the recognition of others as minded creatures is our understanding of others is solely a question of, say, direct
not only more fundamental, but also more certain than our empathic understanding, imaginative projection, analogical
ascription of specific beliefs and emotions to others. As reasoning, or inference to best explanation. We need multi-
Schutz pointed out, the experience of the presence of others ple complementary accounts in order to cover the variety of
is prior to any understanding of others that draws on abilities, skills and strategies that we draw on and employ in
imaginative projection, autobiographical memory or theo- order to understand and make sense of others. To put it dif-
retical knowledge (Schutz 1967, 162). We only start to ferently, the phenomenologists are not claiming that all
employ the latter strategies, when we are already con- forms of social cognition involve or can be explained by
vinced that we are facing minded creatures, but are simply empathy. They are not denying that we, in some cases, rely
unsure about precisely how we are to interpret the on imagination, memory or theoretical knowledge when
expressive phenomena in question, or to put it differently, attempting to understand others. In fact, they readily concede
we would not start to inquire into the meaning of another’s that if we really want to understand the full psychological life
actions, we would not attempt to predict or explain them, of others, if we really want to understand what others are up
were we not already convinced that the other was a to, why they are doing what they are doing, and what that
minded, experiencing, subject. Moreover, even if there is means to them, then we have to go beyond a narrow focus on
much about the other that is not readily accessible, there is face-to-face interaction and embodied engagement. In short,
a decisive difference between our everyday uncertainty none of them are disputing that we have to go beyond what is
about what precisely others might be thinking about, and directly available if we wish to attain deeper levels of
the nightmare vision of the solipsist. Although we might be interpersonal understanding. But making that concession
uncertain about the specific beliefs and intentions of others, doesn’t make them question or downplay the importance of
this uncertainty does not make us question their very the face-to-face encounter, since they all consider it basic.
mindedness.3 The foundation of interpersonal understanding is not to be
Interestingly, and perhaps also slightly confusingly, found in detached belief-ascriptions but in a far more primitive
empathy is taken to play a role when it comes to answering sensitivity to animacy, agency and emotional expressivity.
both types of question. What is brought out by Husserl’s and In the contemporary debate on empathy, one can
Stein’s analyses in particular is that empathy works along a encounter distinctions between mirror empathy, motor
continuum. At one end of the scale, empathy is understood as empathy, affective empathy, perceptually mediated empa-
a basic sensitivity to the mindedness of others. It can, how- thy, reenactive empathy and cognitive empathy, to mention
ever, also provide us with a more specific experiential grasp just a few of the options available. Given the polysemic
of the psychological life of the other. character of the notion of empathy (and also the fact that
not all phenomenologists were equally happy using the
term) one might, of course, wonder whether it would not be
7 Conclusion best to simply drop the term and instead present the phe-
nomenological findings as contributions to the more gen-
As I pointed out earlier, the primary goal of this probe into the eral field of social cognition. Although one could certainly
early phenomenological exploration of empathy was not to do so, here is one reason for resisting such a move. I think
provide a clear cut definition of the notion, but rather to Lipps, Husserl and many others got it right when they
highlight some of the insights that can be garnered from that urged us to respect the irreducible difference between our
exploration; insights that remain of relevance for the con- knowledge of external objects, our self-knowledge and our
temporary discussion of social cognition. These would knowledge of others. Continuing to use and employ the
include the emphasis on the multifaceted character of notion of empathy might help us keep that point in mind.4
3 4
The arguments in the last few paragraphs are adapted from Zahavi I am indebted to two anonymous reviewers for a number of helpful
(2011). comments.
123
142 D. Zahavi
123