Empathy, Within Reason, Within Circumstance (An English Essay)

Empathy, Within Reason, Within Circumstance

Empathy within Reason within Circumstance

Empathy, a feeling of deep understanding that accumulates over time as we grow into ourselves, helps us to communicate and work better with our counterparts. It is one thing to feel for your fellows, to be sympathetic, and another thing to actually yearn to feel what they feel in order to better help them. I believe Empathy opens up a deep, seemingly innate sense of heart that we share human to human, and while some argue that this significant feeling makes it too easy to be taken advantage of, I believe this profound emotion brings out the best in our plummeting society. To do everything at a healthy reasonable rate is to do everything in moderation. I say as a societal hail Mary, Empathy is an emotion needed to be developed and nurtured in every human being from childhood moving into adulthood, but empathy within reason, within circumstance is recommended.

To believe that divulging into your empathetic sense only paves way to being victim to someone else’s opportunistic nature is simply narrow-minded. One should not let their feelings of empathy rule over their decisions and morals, no, but one should neither close themselves up to the chance of connecting deeper to fellow human beings. It is quite understandable the level of vulnerability that comes when you open up to a feeling as intense as empathy. What is also understandable is the fear derived from this happening. Paul Bloom says himself in his publication featured in the New York Times that ‘our empathy can be exploited by others…when cynical politicians tells stories of victims…[they] use our empathy for these victims to stoke hatred against vulnerable groups… [Paul Bloom, Source A],’ which is true. By choosing to be the bigger person through actions and through an empathetic mindset, others may see a chance to exploit and use you to their own benefit. But while this is true, when has it ever been taught that the bad acts of others should alter your beliefs and emotions as a person? We don’t- or rather we shouldn’t- change the good parts of ourselves simply because everyone else is bad. We should not allow the fear of others’ bad nature rule over ourselves so much that we close the gates to the chance to connect to another human being in a way so powerful as empathy because as Zaki Jamil puts it in his response to Bloom, “empathy makes a difference…[and] those who choose empathy grow a broader, richer emotional life.” [Zaki Jamil, Source B] So rather than fear the vulnerability of empathy, I believe we should embrace it and not let that fear rule us as we wouldn’t let our fear rule other aspects of life. This, though, does not mean we should negate our logic and reasoning. There should be medium: Empathy within Reason.

We need a sense of logic and a sense of reason to help us weave through the complications of life; Naturally, too, we do need a semblance of an empathetic nature to keep the scales balanced, so that we don’t thoroughly lose sense of our humanity. The feeling of Empathy, as everything of strong nature, should be dictated in moderation. Do not empathize when you need to sympathize or simply show compassion, and do not sympathize and be compassionate when you need to show empathy. Empathy within Reason simply means to formulate an understanding with others to an extent that helps your counterpart but at the same time is not detrimental to you. Here is where the compassion form of our journey to Empathy comes in. Paul Bloom in his retort to Jamil says that “empathy can be wonderful...but it has serious design flaws, such as bias, and narrowness...we’re better off with compassion.” [Paul Bloom, Source C] Empathy is a deeper sense of compassion as depression a deeper sense of sadness and ecstasy a more intense sense of happiness. Empathy is built and broadened out of one’s sense of compassion and the significance of one’s compassionate nature. “Not because two things can be separated doesn’t mean they are always or even usually neatly divided,” [Zaki Jamil, Source D]. In essence, don’t set the two apart as if they are strangers to one another. Empathy and compassion are aspects of the same idea, the idea of connecting with other humans through emotions but in the same instance, one should not clump the two as if they are the same. In this, though I do agree with Jamil, I have to reinforce a point made by Bloom. He says, “...When you lump them together [compassion and empathy] you leave less room for the richness of moral psychology and make it harder to properly explain the phenomena...” So, here’s is my proclamation: The feeling and sense of Empathy is too complicated not to be compartmentalized but we should not symmolate Empathy for compassion and vise vera but rather study the two as they are-counterparts to the same essence. Only in this can one truly understand the significance of Empathy, and the level of compassion and how both counterparts work together as a medium : Empathy within Reason.

In this, we now come to our final stage of Empathy; Empathy should be expressed within Reason as Empathy should also be expressed only within circumstance. I believe, like said before, that Empathy is a force of an innate nature. It is instilled in us as humans, from birth, to feel for our fellows, and to yearn to connect with them. But only with active usage does this feeling develop to its full capacity and when we have reached the full capacity of Empathy, we learn how to use it’s aspects, and learn when to use them. This being said, with every expression of emotion, there is a time and place for everything. “Lust can be terrific”, Paul Bloom says in Source C, “but certainly not for doctors doing medical exams.” Empathy ,while I believe should be integrated into society and nurtured overtime in ourselves, is an emotion that shouldn’t be commonly used in everyday situations. Empathy can be analogous to the significance of Depression: It is ok to feel depressed for a time, normal even according to many studies, but when you find yourself deep into a depressive state it creates negative side effects that are most always psychological. Empathy is an emotion of this significance. If you are empathetic to everything and everyone, you are prone to the difficulties of others and taking on this empathetic mindset to the significance of an everyday emotion can prove detrimental to yourself (which directly coincides with our Empathy with Reason). There are many stages to an empathetic mindset and two of those are sympathy and compassion. So, feel sympathetic to the troubled teen with the terrible childhood who threw away their future, because it wasn’t all their fault. Show compassion to the homeless veteran on the street corner who fought for his country and lost his home.The difference between the two is your actions; To feel sympathetic is to simply feel, while to show compassion is to Do. Using these two aspects doesn’t mean you have not achieved the empathetic mindset, quite the contrary. It simply means, you have learned how, learned when, and learned if to express empathy which is empathy dictated in moderation.

-XTBWilliams