NAME: Deniz Yıldırım- 2499853

SECTION: 125
DATE: 26.05.2022

ENG102 – QUIZ 2
GRADES: 10 POINTS
DEADLINE: 16.05.2022 (by 23:59 pm at the latest)

PART I. Watch the interview with Professor Paul Bloom from the link below, take notes, and
answer the following questions using your notes. (5 points)

https://youtu.be/KvVLXKIwGSk

1. Why is Bloom against empathy?

=> He is againts empathy because he thinks it is biased, he believes we feel empathy to
thoese wwho are more close to us. Another thing he states is that empahty is powerful
when we connect with one people rather than a hundred. And the final thing he says that
empahty can be used againts others to generate hate and aggression.

2. What does Bloom mean by saying “empathy is picky”? How does he exemplify this view?
=> Bloom means that we feel more empathy to the people who are like us and ignore alien
people, he exemplifies this by saying that White people do care more about White people
rather than dark skinned people.

3. Why is empathy unwise according to Bloom?

=> Because he says that the current practice of empathy is about feeling how other people
feel, it is stated that if people try understand others pain rather than feeling it, it can make a
change for good. That is why he thinks empathy is unwise because it keeps people from
doing good.
4. How do Trudeau and Trump exercise empathy as politicians? What does this indicate?
=> Trump is trying to use bad stories about policies to make people feel bad things about
that policiy without rational thinking, Trudeau uses empathy as a leadership quality. This
indicates that epathy can be bend and twisted to be used as a tool for politicians.

5. What does Bloom mean by saying “empathy is a gun that points both ways”?
=> He means that empathy can cause good things to happen faster and stronger but also
bad things, it does not have tendency for good.

PART II. Read the text, “Don’t Confuse Solidarity with Empathy” by van de Sande on pp. 29-31
in Module 1 in the course booklet, and do the tasks that follow. (5 points)

A. Fill in the vocabulary log template below: (1 pt.)

1) Word: DEROGATORY

Part of the Speech: adjective

Definition and/or Synonyms: showing a critical or disrespectful attitude / belittling

Collocation(s) or/and Example(s): And often

this image is particularly derogatory: that of a weak or
defenseless person who supposedly needs our help.

Other forms of the word:

2) Word: INCLUSIVENESS

Part of the Speech: noun

Definition and/or Synonyms: the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and
resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those having physical or
mental disabilities or belonging to other minority groups.

Collocation(s) or/and Example(s): This inclusiveness is all very well but the initial
message was precisely that in practice not all lives carry the same weight.

Other forms of the word:

 3) Word: DISEMPOWER

Part of the Speech: verb

Definition and/or Synonyms: make (a person or group) less powerful or confident.

Collocation(s) or/and Example(s): an overload of empathy can also be very disempowering.

Other forms of the word:

4) Word: ALLEVIATE

Part of the Speech: verb

Definition and/or Synonyms: make (suffering, deficiency, or a problem) less severe. / ease, relieve

Collocation(s) or/and Example(s): The pretension that the injustice that affects some is applicable to
everyone
alleviates the debate.

Other forms of the word:

5) Word: CONFORM

Part of the Speech: verb

Definition and/or Synonyms: be similar in form or type; agree / agree with

Collocation(s) or/and Example(s): Empathy assumes that the other person can and will
conform to the image that we have of her/him.

Other forms of the word:

B. Answer the questions according to the text. (3 pts.)

1. Why do we need to accept the existence of inequality to be able to show solidarity? What is
the problem with showing empathy, instead of solidarity, towards people/cases that we are
unfamiliar with?
 We need to accept inequality because to come together in solidarity we must first
accept our differences if we show empathy to feel for “the more rich” “the more
privileged” we stand together with them.
2. Why is empathy self-centered and what problem does this cause?
 Empathy is mostly self – centered because one mainly projects their own
understanding into another, this causes people to judge others with their own ethic
values.

3. How does empathy lead to disempowerment and how does solidarity solve this?
 Empathy causes people to become prisoners in others pains. That is why it
sometimes causes fear or a sense of defeat even before the start. Solidarity on the
other hand aims forge bonds to create a stronger force to put an end to those pains.

C. Fill in the table below to compare the views of three scholars about empathy that you
studied in Module 1. (1 pt.)

Rifkin Bloom van de Sande

Yes No No
Is empathy the
solution to
problems?

Because if our Because empathy can Because empathy is

empathy can be be twisted and bend self-centered and
extended into other to any intention dividing rather than
Why / Why not? people and creatures rather than good. empathy we must find
for a better world. solidarity.