Introduction: Rewriting the Definition of Empathy

Abstract

This inquiry examines empathy as used in context even when the word “empathy” is not explicitly mentioned. The capacity for empathy, not the mere word, is engaged in diverse intellectual traditions. The difference between the mention of the word “empathy” and its use is indicated by enclosing the mention in quotation marks. A definition of empathy is proposed in which it is a unified multi-dimensional process that includes empathic receptivity, empathic understanding, empathic interpretation, and empathic responsiveness. These aspects of empathy form a unified whole and the application of this definition makes sense out of a diversity of apparently conflicting examples, applications, descriptions, and definitions of empathy.