Being Me Being You: Adam Smith And Empathy Hardcover

New

Samuel Fleischacker

Modern notions of empathy often celebrate its ability to bridge divides, to unite humankind. Yet 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.

9780226661759

English

The University Of Chicago Press

23-Oct-19

248

Samuel Fleischacker is professor of philosophy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the author of many books, including On Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations": A Philosophical Companion and, most recently, The Good and the Good Book: Revelation as a Guide to Life.

A helpful exploration of the variety of ways in which we use the term 'empathy' today. . . . A dense and fascinating philosophical treatise. . . . Being Me Being You is an excellent read for anyone interested in Smith and in how we live and get along with others. It makes important contributions to the literature of moral philosophy, and deftly answers several modern direct and indirect challenges to Smithian empathy.-- "Adam Smith Works"