Empathy and power

Unraveling the political fabric of an emotion

Abstract

Emotions have been perceived as an object of philosophical and ethical inquiry since Greco-Roman times, but the outburst of “affect theory” transformed their theoreticalvision by identifying them as cultural practices subjected to dynamics of power. Even if the critique has pointed at the political dangers that affects like compassion may imply, empathy, which is having a moment of popularity in multiple disciplines, is still being analyzed as a highly democratizing emotion. In addition, its imaginative process is
generally simplified and the narrow focus that limits its occurrence is overlooked. This article aims to identify the power dictates that determine empathy theoretically as well as in its practice, putting the focus on the moral barriers that dictate who is worthy of being understood, and proposing literature as a way to expand our empathic capacity.

Keywords: politics, affect theory, empathy, morality, extreme empathy.