tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-797762748123606005.post6840498083922216521..comments2022-03-27T20:01:12.363-05:00Comments on ecu english talk: Empathy is Overrated (And So are Literature Classes?)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-797762748123606005.post-85853384578110269062011-10-22T21:04:07.940-05:002011-10-22T21:04:07.940-05:00I agree with you that both emotion and intellect h...I agree with you that both emotion and intellect have a valuable role to play when it comes to making ethical decisions. Your analysis of this complex issue strikes me as both knowledgeable and wise.<br /><br />What follows is not intended as disagreement, but as a complementary caution about the danger of celebrating empathy uncritically.<br /><br />In a chapter titled “The Rise of English,” in Steve Bentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03402179867322330887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-797762748123606005.post-4318844158864817072011-10-11T12:45:13.168-05:002011-10-11T12:45:13.168-05:00Individuals interested in the subject of empathy, ...Individuals interested in the subject of empathy, particularly the limits of it, might find Thomas Nagel's "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" of interest. Though not focused on the topic of empathy, Nagel's article nonetheless sheds light on the limits of it. Through the extreme example of a bat, Nagel illustrates the "problem of other minds," namely the fact that other Jennifer L. McMahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14592985182836120265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-797762748123606005.post-43248214486492219452011-10-05T11:06:58.501-05:002011-10-05T11:06:58.501-05:00I agree with Brooks. However, I also feel that emo...I agree with Brooks. However, I also feel that emotions have more value when it comes to judgment and moral actions than many philosophers have tended to assert. At the same time, feeling can predispose us to bias and we need to be alert to this potential. As Kant asserts in Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals, "there are many persons so sympathetically constituted that, without any Jennifer L. McMahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14592985182836120265noreply@blogger.com