The Dark Sides of Empathy

Empathy is considered the basis of moral action. But if we examine this more carefully, the ability to »empathize with other people« proves itself to be a prerequisite for deliberate humiliation and cruelty. Additionally, even well-meaning compassion has many unintended consequences. It is for these reasons that we must investigate especially the dark, hitherto repressed aspects of empathy in order to achieve a better society.

Fritz Breithaupt invites his readers to consider these facets and in doing so leads us from narcissism and Nietzsche to helicopter parents and Angela Merkel’s refugee policy. After Cultures of Empathy, his successful first book on empathy, a topic that has been neglected in ethical discourse, Fritz Breithaupt now presents another study on this most important philosophical subject.

»Empathy, Fritz Breithaupt shows through an abundant collection of examples, can lead to immoral acts as well as moral ones.« Neue Zürcher Zeitung

»The deeper you go into this book, the more dominant the dark sides of empathy seem – and the more urgent it is to face them.« BR

»A book well worth reading. It invites you to reflect on an important human, social, and political topic.« socialnet

»Fritz Breithaupt’s thorough examination of the risks of empathy – self-loss, polarization, and bystander effects – warns that we should not expect it to lead inevitably to altruism. Breithaupt shows that empathy can be a source of emotional vampirism or sadistic pleasure. His work encourages circumvention of barriers to empathy and channeling it into helping others.« Suzanne Keen, Hamilton College, author of Empathy and the Novel

»Fritz Breithaupt’s new book is a brilliant, iconoclastic inquiry into the ›terrible things we do because of our ability to empathize with others.‹ It ranges widely in its case studies – from Angela Merkel’s refugee politics, and the aesthetics of empathy, to helicopter parenting – while remaining pointedly reader-friendly, compelling, witty, and personable. The Dark Sides of Empathy is a must-read for anyone who writes about empathy, prizes it, or thinks that we don’t have enough of it to go around.« Lisa Zunshine, University of Kentucky, author of Getting Inside Your Head

»By focusing on the dangers arising from our capacity for empathy, Fritz Breithaupt illuminates its dark side, and demonstrates why empathy doesn’t necessarily lead to altruism or moral behavior. An important book to temper the accepted and a bit naïve view that empathy is the solution to our social ailments.« Jean Decety, University of Chicago