Law in Contemporary Society

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EmpathyAndTheLaw 13 - 08 Apr 2010 - Main.CarolineFerrisWhite
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 I am lucky, in that my name begins with a C and Eben edited my paper a long time ago. Still, it took me some time to inure myself to the scary red ink and actually digest his comments. His notes, along with this class, raise some issues I find both interesting and very complicated and I welcome your thoughts and help in sorting them out. (You can read his edits here - CarolineFerrisWhiteFirstPaper)

If I understand correctly, Eben sees empathy and empathic responses as one way of distinguishing between criminal/antisocial and social behavior. The ready distinction seems to be between those who feel for and can imagine the experiences of others, leading them to treat others with respect, and those who for whatever reason can't imagine the experiences of others, and so think only of their own interests and desires. But it's not always so clear: Eben points to the case of the empathic individual who nonetheless behaves antisocially, and the complex system of internal justifications this creates. Probably most people who commit crimes fall into this category.

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 I definitely agree that empathy is necessary for cooperation and communication. However, I don't know if understanding another's perspective will lead me to make the "GOOD" decision when I stand to gain from a stranger's loss. Even if I know how a person will feel, is that going to stop me from exploiting them? What is the mechanism that makes me sacrifice my own best interest for the sake of a stranger?

-- MikeAbend - 06 Apr 2010

Added:
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>		Krishna: Fascinating article on mirror neurons. Here's another mirror neuron article on mirror-touch synesthesia. There are people, mirror-touch synesthetes, who experience physical sensation simply by watching someone else be touched. This mirror neuron business helps me to understand a quirk of my father's. When I have a stomachache, he immediately goes and throws up. I couldn't bring my scraped knees and bloody cuts to him when I was little - he got woozy and had to leave the room. He's a trial attorney who loves his work; perhaps his empathic abilities have something to do with that.

-- CarolineFerrisWhite - 7 Apr 2012

 
 
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Revision 13r13 - 08 Apr 2010 - 00:21:52 - CarolineFerrisWhite
Revision 12r12 - 06 Apr 2010 - 17:26:10 - MikeAbend
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