Empathy and the Aesthetic Mind
Perspectives on Fiction and Beyond
Empathy and the Aesthetic Mind
Perspectives on Fiction and Beyond
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Description
Art is a constant point of reference for the exploration of the different manifestations of empathy and of its cognitive, affective and moral dimensions. Bringing together 15 essays from a team of established and rising philosophers, this volume sheds light on how both representational and non-representational forms of art allow empathic engagement. It examines the significance of such engagement for cognition, our emotive life and our moral stance.
Opening with a historical reconstruction of the origins of empathy, or 'Einfühlung', in the German-speaking world from the late 19th to the early 20th century, the collection highlights the relevance of those early insights for current debates. Structured into four parts, chapters explore our emphatic engagement with fictional characters, with the inanimate in art forms such as film, music and architecture, with the cognitive value of empathy with fiction, and finally our emphatic response to fiction in relation to our moral attitudes. The contributors reflect on these specific themes and bring into sharp focus our emphatic engagement with works of art from historical, systematic and interdisciplinary perspectives.
Table of Contents
1. What Is Aesthetic Empathy and How Does it Work? A Historic–Systematic Approach Thomas Petraschka
Part I. Empathy with Fictional Others: Challenges and Complexities
2. Imagining Empathy for Fictional Characters Jonathan Gilmore
3. Imaginative Freedom and Epistemic Constraints in the Context of Literary Text Julia Langkau
4. Videogames as Vehicles for Empathetic Perspective-Shifting: Imagining Psychosis in Hellblade Christopher Bartel
5. Authentic Performance and Empathy Maria José Alcaraz León
Part II. Empathy and Aesthetic Cognitivism
6. Empathy, Imagination, and the Epistemic Value of Fiction Amy Kind
7. Affective Empathy and Imagined Emotion in Literary Fiction Cain Todd
8. Empathic Imaginings and 'Knowledge of What it Is Like' in Aesthetic Cognitivism Íngrid Vendrell Ferran
Part III. Empathy and the Moral Stance
9. The Rhetoric of Empathy in Narrative Film Carl Plantinga
10. Stepping Into Ill-Fitting Shoes: The Rewards and Perils of Empathy for Rough Heroes Panos Paris
11. Cheap Empathy: Sam Lipsyte's The Ask Tzachi Zamir
Part IV. Beyond Fiction: Empathy in the Experience of Music and Architecture
12. The Role of Empathy in Musical Experience and Understanding Joel Smith
13. The Social Dimension of Music Listening: Empathy and the Experience of Feeling Moved Jonna Vuoskoski
14. Varieties of Empathy in Architecture Anne Tüscher
15. From Feeling Into to Feeling With: Rhythm, Resonance and Response Sarah Robinson
Index
Product details
| Published | Jun 26 2025 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 288 |
| ISBN | 9781350409545 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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