Pluralistic Conceptualizations of Empathy

This paper addresses recent philosophical debates concerning the moral significance of empathy as well as the problems we face in defining empathy. Noting the practical inefficiencies of narrow conceptualizations of empathy, I argue that we ought to adopt broad notions of empathy that are informed by multiple and pluralistic conceptualizations of this phenomenon as they have been articulated throughout history and within different academic disciplines. Broad definitions of empathy, furthermore, offer us a sufficient amount of generality for observing and analyzing the multidimensionality of empathic experiences within a fundamentally relational world.