Friday, March 3, 2017 3:00 pm
-
4:30 pm
EST (GMT -05:00)
Against Empathy
Many
psychologists,
philosophers,
and
laypeople
believe
that empathy is
necessary
for
moral
judgment
and
moral
action—the
only
problem
with empathy is
that
we
sometimes
don’t
have
enough
of
it.
Drawing
on
research
into
psychopathy,
criminal
behavior,
charitable
giving,
infant
cognition,
cognitive
neuroscience,
and
Buddhist
meditation
practices,
I’ll
argue
that
this
is
mistaken. Empathy is
a
poor
moral
guide.
It
is
biased,
short-sighted,
and
innumerate—we
should
try
to
do
without
it.
We
are
much
better
off,
in
both
public
policy
and
intimate
relationships,
drawing
upon
a
combination
of
reason
and
distanced
compassion.
More about Paul: https://psychology.yale.edu/people/paul-bloom