Empathy, Agonism, Deliberation, Democracy

TLDR: In this paper, the authors investigate the history of the concept of empathy from its origins in 19 th Century German aesthetic philosophy, identifying the three key components of emotion, projection and understanding.

Abstract: I believe that empathy is important for democracy. To make this case, I investigate the history of the concept of empathy from its origins in 19 th Century German aesthetic philosophy, identifying the three key components of emotion, projection and understanding. The confusion surrounding empathy today arises from its use by later scholars in the psychoanalytic and social psychological tradition. As an alternative, I adapt a multi-dimensional model called the Process Model of Empathy. Empirical research demonstrates that the process of empathy can help individuals overcome various biases and affect outgroup evaluations; these are essential for democratic decisions to give equal consideration to all citizens. I then argue that these findings are important for Chantal Mouffe's theory of agonistic pluralism, making two claims. First, agonistic pluralism cannot function without putting the process of empathy at its heart; second, this implies that agonistic pluralism places too much emphasis on conflict. As an alternative, some combination of agonism and deliberation may be preferable, though whatever theory remains persuasive, the process of empathy must play a central role in democracy.