Why Do We Need Empathy? - Jane Shaw

Overview

Jane Shaw's lecture explores the multifaceted nature and necessity of empathy, tracing its historical roots from Vernon Lee's introduction of the term in British English to its contemporary relevance in democracy and personal well-being. Shaw argues that empathy, encompassing both cognitive perspective-taking and affective resonance, is crucial for understanding diverse viewpoints, fostering community, and navigating complex global challenges, as exemplified by its role in art, literature, and social discourse. The lecture also addresses criticisms of empathy, such as bias and potential burnout, contrasting it with compassion and highlighting the importance of 'deep stories' and attentive listening in bridging societal divides.

Key takeaways

Empathy, defined by Vernon Lee as projecting oneself into another's situation, is crucial for democratic societies, requiring narrative imagination to understand diverse perspectives.
The arts, particularly literature and visual arts, serve as powerful tools for cultivating empathy by eliciting emotional identification and revealing shared human experiences across differences.
While empathy can be biased and lead to burnout (as argued by Paul Bloom), its cognitive aspect (perspective-taking) and its role in fostering community and addressing global issues remain vital.
Arlie Hochschild's concept of 'deep stories' highlights the importance of understanding the subjective emotional narratives that shape individuals' worldviews, especially in bridging political divides.
The digital age, with its anonymity and focus on charisma over reason, poses challenges to empathy, potentially diminishing our capacity for deep listening and understanding.
Empathy involves both a conscious choice to engage and an unpredictable element of 'grace' or 'aha moment,' underscoring its complex nature.

Chapters

0:00 Introduction and Welcome to Gresham College

Richard Smith welcomes attendees to the first lecture of the season, the Provost's Lecture.
Housekeeping includes instructions for Q&A (mic or QR code) and fire alarm procedures.
Professor Jane Shaw is introduced as the Provost of Gresham College, with a distinguished academic background.

5:39 The Academic Year and the Role of Arts and Humanities

Jane Shaw opens the new academic year, noting the gathering of Gresham professors, past and present.
The focus for the year is on the arts and humanities, deemed essential for the world.
Iris Murdoch's quote emphasizes art's educational value and its role in understanding morality.

8:56 Defining Empathy: Vernon Lee and Early Concepts

Shaw introduces a passage written in London, December 1914, during World War I, highlighting the power of music (Bach) to connect people across divides.
Vernon Lee (Violet Paget) is credited with introducing 'empathy' into British English, building on the German 'infühlung'.
Empathy is defined as projecting oneself into a situation or object, distinct from sympathy (identifying with another).

14:02 Aesthetic Experience and the Physiology of Empathy

Vernon Lee researched aesthetic experience, meticulously recording physical and mental responses to art.
She explored whether empathy is driven by brain, biology, environment, or upbringing.
Lee concluded empathy is largely a mental process involving imagination and memory, leading to emotional response and identification.

17:31 Mimicry, Mirror Neurons, and Types of Empathy

The concept of mimicry, like involuntarily copying facial expressions or poses, was explored by psychologists.
Mimicry was seen as central to empathy and personality development, linked to emotional contagion.
Neurologists later discussed mirror neurons; psychologists identified cognitive empathy (perspective-taking) and affective empathy (shared emotional response).

20:16 Shaw's Working Definition of Empathy

Shaw proposes a working definition: 'the art of stepping imaginatively into the shoes of another person, understanding their feelings and perspectives and using that understanding to guide your actions.'
Empathy does not necessitate adopting another's perspective or emotion, but rather understanding it.
The lecture then poses the question: 'Why do we need empathy?'

21:46 Empathy and Democracy: Martha Nussbaum's Argument

Martha Nussbaum argues in 'In Defense of the Humanities' that democracy requires citizens to develop narrative imagination.
This involves being an intelligent reader of others' stories, understanding their emotions and wishes.
Global interdependence necessitates understanding others to solve shared problems (economic, environmental, political).

24:58 Enlightenment Roots: Adam Smith and the Novel

The link between democracy and narrative imagination has roots in the Enlightenment and the development of democracy.
Adam Smith, in 'The Theory of Moral Sentiments' (1759), proposed a theory of moral action based on sympathy or 'fellow feeling'.
Smith believed sympathy is intrinsic, allowing us to imagine ourselves in another's situation to share their feelings.

27:10 The Novel as a Tool for Empathy

The rise of the modern novel paralleled the Enlightenment, eliciting emotional identification with characters.
Novels like Samuel Richardson's 'Clarissa' (1748) and Charles Dickens' works brought the conditions of the working classes to middle-class readers.
Historian Thomas Laqueur described novels as 'humanitarian narratives' that evoke compassion and potentially social action.

30:46 Empathy as Imaginative Love and Community Building

Empathy involves stepping into others' shoes, metaphorically and sometimes literally (e.g., swapping shoes exercise).
Marilynne Robinson defines community as 'imaginative love for people we do not know,' emphasizing imagination's role in creating inclusive communities.
Books are highlighted as a vital art form for developing narrative imagination and connecting with diverse human experiences.

35:23 Empathy in the Visual Arts: 'Invisible Man' and St. Sebastian

Artists act as 'disruptors' (James Baldwin), revealing the beloved to themselves and making freedom real.
Daniel Goldstein's sculpture 'Invisible Man' (864 syringes with red beads) represents the 'presence of absence' of those lost to AIDS.
This sculpture resonates with depictions of St. Sebastian, a martyr shot with arrows, a subject Vernon Lee contemplated for its visceral impact.

40:52 Visual Arts and Ambiguity: Jacob Epstein's 'Lazarus'

Jacob Epstein's 1947 sculpture 'Lazarus' depicts a bandaged figure twisting his head from east to west, symbolizing ambiguity between returning to life and reluctance.
The sculpture explores the human resistance to change, even when desiring new life.
Patrick Bringley's book 'All the Beauty in the World' illustrates how museum guards develop empathy through patient attention to art and visitors.

46:45 Resonance Across Cultures: The Dervish Painting

Bringley's experience with a 16th-century Sufi dervish painting revealed a resonance despite cultural and temporal distance.
The inscription 'Why then am I obliged to heaven as it has given me a soul?' connected with Bringley's grief.
This illustrates Rebecca Solnit's concept of 'far away nearby,' where empathy involves a journey out of oneself.

50:02 Fiction and Shared Grief: Zadie Smith's Perspective

Zadie Smith discusses identifying with Elizabeth Strout's character Olive Kitteridge, despite vast differences in background.
Smith notes that while griefs aren't a perfect mapping, fiction reveals shared human experiences across diverse individuals.
Empathy is not appropriating another's experience but attending to and attempting to understand it.

52:30 Beauty, Art, and 'Unselfing'

The arts, and particularly beauty, are not luxuries but essential for realizing we are 'fully alive' (Vernon Lee's 'art for life's sake').
Iris Murdoch describes 'unselfing' as a process where observing something beautiful (like a kestrel) shifts focus away from selfish concerns.
This 'unselfing' releases time spent on the self to be used in service of something larger.

57:06 Empathy in Theatre: 'Punch' by James Graham

Theatre offers an immersive experience, exemplified by James Graham's play 'Punch'.
The play dramatizes the true story of Jacob Dunn, who killed paramedic James Hodkinson with a single punch, and the subsequent restorative justice process.
The play immerses the audience, serving as an 'education in empathy' by placing them in the room with the individuals involved.

1:00:49 Deep Listening and Societal Divides: Arlie Hochschild

The lecture addresses the difficulty of understanding those with vastly different political or social views.
Sociologist Arlie Hochschild's work in 'Strangers in Their Own Land' involved living in conservative Louisiana to understand 'deep stories'.
A 'deep story' is a narrative of feelings, not necessarily facts, allowing exploration of subjective prisms through which others see the world.

1:05:19 Challenges to Empathy in the Digital Age

Deep stories are increasingly manipulated in a post-truth age, exacerbated by online platforms and Section 230.
AI-generated content, bots, and malign influences shape our deep stories.
The lecture questions if empathy is a 'good thing,' referencing Elon Musk's view that it makes civilization weak.

Summary, takeaways, and chapters were generated by AI from the video's transcript and may contain errors. The video belongs to its creator, Gresham College.