Introduction to Empathy : Activation , Definition , Construct

Empathy indicates an emotional rapport, or identification, with another person. It has been introduced as a central focus for ‘sensitivity trainings’ and feedback workshops in professional settings, and the relatively new Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) movement in schools. Empathy is promoted as a hallmark of social relationships that if featured in human interactions will presumably make us better at relating to one another. Empathy as advertised seems a worthy means of creating harmony within a community, or between communities, or even nations. This multidisciplinary collection of ideas about and approaches to empathy stems from a workshop on ‘Empathy’ held at the Joint Faculty Institute of Graduate Studies (JFIGS) Forum at University College London on 1 November, 2013. The JFIGS Forum synthesised various methodological approaches from both postgraduate students and members of academic staff from the Joint Faculties of Arts and Humanities and Social and Historical Sciences at UCL. The workshop evaluated the idea of empathy from an interdisciplinary perspective in order to address questions of human (and even non-human) capabilities for empathy; the role of empathy in the construction of cultural identity; the employment of empathy in the arts; the connection between empathy and communication in cyber communities; and the potentially damaging effects of empathy, either in its lack or its overexploitation, in various contexts. Individual disciplinary approaches represented at the Forum included philosophy, anthropology, psychology, classical studies, fine arts, gender studies, English literature, modern languages, and digital humanities. The event culminated in a roundtable discussion on ‘empathy in action’, which evaluated empathy as a motivator for altruistic action, and revisited questions and themes featured in the individual papers, a number of which are represented in this collection. I would like to acknowledge here the editorial support of Professor Maria Wyke in the UCL Department of Greek and Latin, whose guidance and input has been instrumental in the generation of this collection of fresh and diverse approaches to the study of empathy.