Student’s Surname 1

[Student’s Name]

[Course Title]

[Institutional Affiliation]

[Dated]

INTRODUCTION
According to Riess (75) empathy is the feeling of understanding other person’s feeling.
Empathy is the capability to feel the same as the other person is feeling, to think from their point
of view, to imagine yourself in someone else’s place just to feel the same. Empathy is different
from sympathy which is related to the act of kindness. In contrast empathy is putting yourself in
someone else’s experiences and feel the same (Heyes 500). Riess (76) highlighted that empathy
can be cognitive, emotional or somatic. Empathy can be defined on the grounds of broad
definitions that empathy is an emotional intelligence and is completely about understanding the
emotional states of people. Empathy can be measured in quantity such as more or less on the
basis of some factors (Heyes 501). In empathetic interaction the quantity of empathy can be
measure as the extent to which a person can accurately or inaccurately recognize the mental state
or intentional actions of another person (Riess 74). There are different scholarly views on
empathy among which Jesse Prinz is also included who has considered the Hume’s approach of
empathy and presented his argument against Hume’s six preconditions of empathy. This paper
aims to highlight the arguments presented by Jesse Prinz in his book Against Empathy. This
paper also attempts to highlight that if Prinz point of view is justifiable or not.

PART 1
Is Empathy a Constructive Precondition?
Empathy is an emotion of a person that he experiences. Therefore, empathy can be
considered as a precondition on ethical judgment. It can be said that approbation is an
empathetic joy which is caused by the observation of the human beings (Prinz 217). Therefore, it
can also be considered as disapprobation is a resentment or annoyance which is caused by
observing the people’s suffering (Prinz 217). In this regard we can say that if a person gives
 Student’s Surname 2

something to a needy person, the approbation is caused by the empathy. Similarly, if a person
steals something from a needy person, it is because he doesn’t feel any empathy (Prinz 218).

Prinz (217) highlighted that gratitude and admiration are completely different from each
other. They are different emotions and won’t make you feel the same (Prinz 217). The feeling of
gratitude is related to reciprocation or indebtedness. In contrast, the feeling of admiration is
related to the respect and looking upwards (Prinz 217). If someone gets robbed, you will have the
feelings of vulnerability for the victim but you will not feel the same for the robber. Instead you
will have the feelings of anger towards the robber (Prinz 218). In some cases you don’t show the
same feelings of anger as of the victim. We can consider here the example of a pickpocket’s
victim, who doesn’t know that he/she has been gotten robbed. In such cases the empathy doesn’t
seems like a precondition of disapprobation.

Is Empathy a Development Precondition?

Empathy can be considered as a development precondition. When a child is punished for
harming someone, this punishment may result in certain developmental changes in a child (Prinz
221). The child may be yelled at, sent to his/her room, or may be not gets permitted for
something he/she loves to do. The child recognizes the threated love of his/her caregivers.
Therefore, a punished child will observe the anger of his/her caregivers on his/her actions and
show the same anger in such situations in future. In such cases the child associates the actions of
hurting or harming to the negative emotions and response. Moreover, people who have
experienced such situations get disturbed when they see disturbing photos (Prinz 221).

The term empathy refers to a range of behavioral, emotional and cognitive phenomenon,
the concept is still very surprising (Wilkinson et al. 19). There ae many ways by which empathy
can be regarded as precondition. It can also serve as the sentimental foundation on which
morality is based (Wilkinson et al. 19). If we think about empathy, we can say that it cannot be
taught, manipulated or induced and its level varies according to individual to individual which is
preconditioned. But, it can still be developed later on in life (Buchholz et al. npg).
 Student’s Surname 3

PART 2A
Is Empathy a Constructive Precondition?
Empathy plays a crucial role in the development of the human moral. Prinz (217) argued
that empathy is not essential for moral judgment. I agree that there were moral systems that did
not need empathy for moral judgment. In early ages, people lived with the pre-moral values and
didn’t need any feelings of empathy to respect someone or to follow regulations. Therefore, we
can say that empathy is not involved in the approval or disapproval of actions. Moral judgments
can also be formed on the basis of our gut feelings.

Empathy is an important construct of human personality that can be expressed

(Hinnekens 104). Its expression can be highly influential and powerful. Empathy can reduce
anxiety of a person, build a sense of trust in an individual and it even leads to improvement of
health outcomes of many individuals. Empathy can be considered as a constructive precondition
because it can influence greatly to the person’s health and it can reduce the difficulties that a
person is facing and can improve an individuals’ mental health.

PART 2B
The intuitions or simply known as the gut feelings have a leading role in moral judgment
of others. Usually intuitions lead towards the formation of immediate and non-argumentative
judgments (Turiel 300). Some moral judgments are driven by the culture or social values that are
attained by the people. The moral judgments that are formed on the basis of intuitions in
particular situations are mostly innate by our cultural values or cultural prejudices. These
culturally driven prejudices or values forms the quick, involuntary or immediate moral
judgments (Turiel 300).

These judgments have tendency to approve or disapprove someone’s actions. Our

emotions drive our intuitions that result in the feelings of right and wrong. In some cases these
initial reactions may override. These judgments create conflict between emotions and logical
explanation (Turiel 300). Judgment and decision making are the only results of our hypothetical
thinking or intuitions. We often make arguments based on the emotions and gut feelings.
 Student’s Surname 4

PART 3A
Is Empathy a Development Precondition?
Morality is a process of regulating behaviors towards others. There is a relation between
empathy and social behavior. Prinz (221) neglected the fundamental processes that take part in
human development. Empathy results in the development of morals. Empathy cannot be only
considered as the essential part of human development, instead it regulates our emotions.
Understanding the mental condition of others is necessary in the development and stimulation of
emotions (Strobel et al. 45). A preliminary empathetic system is essential for the development of
moral emotions including fear, shame, guilt, happiness sadness or anger. Therefore, I disagree
with the Prinz argument that empathy is not a precondition of moral development. Empathy can
also result in the spread of emotions from one human being to another. We can consider here the
example of a child that follows the actions and emotions of his/her adults.

The development of empathetic feelings is dependent on our emotions that are connected
with our past experiences. If the past experiences were good and they developed the emotion of
pride, then the person will associate this situation or experience with a positive emotion (Strobel
et al. 46). Similarly, if the past experiences were bad and they developed the emotions of guilt,
shame or anger, then the person will associate this situation with the negative emotions. These
positive and negative emotions enforce a person to act in a particular way in a situation when
others are feeling the same emotions or are suffering from the same experiences as they did in
the past (Strobel et al. 46).

PART 3B
Empathy is the feeling or sense of awareness of the emotions and experiences of the other
people. It is a key between the interactions of one person to another (Zaki 50). Similarly in social
behavior, guilt is the moral emotion that develops due to our moral values. Moral emotions are
the fundamental components of human morals (Heylighen 108). These emotions have a strong
influence on the moral behavior and choice of people (Nasello et al. 3). An individual’s moral
behavior depends on the past experiences of the similar situation or event. People associate these
emotions with either positive or negative feelings.
 Student’s Surname 5

In some cases those who were prone to guilt appears to be more empathizing with others.
They tend to promote the anger management strategies within daily life to prevent the moral
sufferings of other people from guilt in similar situations (Heyes 501). In contrast shame can lead
towards anxiety, depression, and lower sell esteem. These feelings transform and shape the
personality of a person. Therefore, it would not be justifiable to say that the empathy is not a
precondition of development because it plays a significant role in the moral development of a
person.

CONCLUSION
There are differing concepts of empathy that defines and interprets the interconnection
between empathy and moral values. When it comes to the moral development empathy plays a
vital role in it. But when it comes to the moral judgment, empathy is not always interconnected
with the moral judgment; instead sometimes there are also intuitions that lead towards the moral
judgment.
 Student’s Surname 6

Work Cited
Buchholz, Michael B., et al. "The Building of Empathy: Conceptual “Pillars” and Conversational
Practices in Psychotherapy." Empathy-An Evidence-Based Interdisciplinary
Perspective (2017): npg

Heyes, Cecilia. "Empathy is not in our genes." Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 95

(2018): 499-507.

Heylighen, Ann, and Andy Dong. "To empathise or not to empathise? Empathy and its limits in
design." Design Studies 65 (2019): 107-124.

Hinnekens, Céline, et al. "Empathic accuracy and cognitions during conflict: An in‐depth
analysis of understanding scores." Personal Relationships 27.1 (2020): 102-131.

Nasello, Julian A., et al. "Does empathy predict decision-making in everyday trolley-like
problems?" Current Psychology (2021): 1-14.

Prinz, Jesse. "Against empathy." The Southern Journal of Philosophy 49 (2011): 214-233.

Riess, Helen. "The science of empathy." Journal of patient experience 4.2 (2017): 74-77.

Strobel, Anja, et al. "Need for cognition as a moral capacity." Personality and Individual
Differences 117 (2017): 42-51.

Turiel, Elliot. "Moral development in the early years: when and how." Human
Development 61.4-5 (2018): 297-308.

Wilkinson, Helen, et al. "Examining the relationship between burnout and empathy in healthcare
professionals: A systematic review." Burnout research 6 (2017): 18-29.

Zaki, Jamil. "Empathy is a moral force." Atlas of moral psychology (2018): 49-58.