“Sympathy” and “Empathy”
Musings
By
VIKRAM KARVE
In my college days – in the early 1970s – and – in the pre-internet days – till the end 1990s – I would always carry a diary with me whenever I visited a library – to note down any interesting information (or quote) for future reference.
This morning while browsing through one of my old diaries – I found this jotting:
SYMPATHY and EMPATHY
I was always confused about the meanings of “Sympathy” and “Empathy” - do they mean the same thing – or – are they different – and – if so – what is the difference between “sympathy” and “Empathy”.
I was surprised to see that many dictionaries treat “sympathy” and “empathy” as synonyms.
So – when I found the meaning of the two words (“sympathy” and “empathy”) explained clearly somewhere – I jotted it down in my diary (surprisingly – I did not jot down the reference like I usually do).
“Sympathy” is derived from the Greek word “sympatheia” – which means “sharing feelings”.
“Empathy” is derived from the German word “einfulung” – which means “feeling into”.
When you sympathize with people – you get emotionally involved with those persons – since – you “share their feelings”.
When you empathize with people – you understand their feelings – but – you do not get emotionally involved.
So – in “Sympathy” – the Emotional Aspect is predominant.
And – in “Empathy” – the Perceptive Aspect is predominant.
Hence – if you want to Empathize – you must remove Emotion from Sympathy.
Thus – “Empathy” is “Sympathy” minus the Emotion
In a nutshell:
EMPATHY = SYMPATHY – EMOTION
Dear Reader: Do You Agree…?
Link to my original post in my Blog Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2016/05/sympathy-and-empathy.html
