What’s Wrong with Empathy Gulfs?

Abstract

Abstract The chapter confronts the question why empathy gulfs might be considered problematic at all. Richard Sennett’s notion of superficial civility is discussed as it might suggest that empathy is not always necessary for social cohesion. In response, it is assumed that a common moral culture shapes many of our emotional responses to observed inequalities or differences. Rawls’ notion of the union of social unions is helpful in delineating the common normative frame that integrates liberal democracies. If the union that consists of several unions is democratic, it rests on a fundamental idea of political equality that should be shared not only in constitutional or principled terms but also in emotional terms. Recognition of oneself as member of a wider social union (and recognition of others as members of that union) rests on feelings that positively relate the union’s members to each other. On its wide conceptualization, empathy is the psychological mechanism that allows this relation to materialize effectively—if forces that pull the citizenry apart can be held in check.