Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others, and it can foster care and connection among people. However, it can also lead to bias, overwhelm, and shortsighted decision-making, particularly in public policy and charitable actions. The document discusses various perspectives on empathy from different religious and philosophical contexts, while also highlighting its limitations and offering suggestions for more effective decision-making.

1. What is empathy?
 Sympathy – feeling for someone. Your
emotional reaction to their feeling
 Compassion – concern for the
misfortune or suffering of others
 The ability to
understand and
experience
another person’s
feelings

2. Why is empathy good?
 Empathy makes us care about other
people because their pain and joy
become our pain and joy.

3. Empathy in scripture
 Islam
Qur’an: Chapter 9, Verse 128 – There
has certainly come to you a Messenger
from among yourselves. Grievous to
him is what you suffer.

4. Empathy in scripture
 Judaism
Exodus 23:9 – You shall not oppress a
resident alien; you know the heart of an
alien, for you were aliens in the land of
Egypt.
[Another translation “you yourselves
know how it feels to be aliens.”]

5. Empathy in scripture
 Christianity
- Romans 12:15 – Paul said we should
“rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn
with those who mourn.”
- 1 Corinthians 12:26 – Paul says that
“If one member suffers, all suffer
together; if one member is honored, all
rejoice together.”

6. Empathy in scripture
 John 11: 33-35
“When Jesus saw
Lazarus’ sister, Mary,
weeping, and the
Jews who had come
along with her also
weeping, he was
deeply moved in
spirit and troubled. . .
(35) “Jesus wept.”

7. Empathy in scripture
 Buddhism
- “Sentimental compassion” (empathy)
- “Great compassion” - love for others without
empathetic attachment or distress.
Teaching: “Sentimental compassion
(empathy) is to be avoided, as it exhausts
you. Whereas great compassion, which is
more distanced and reserved, and can be
sustained indefinitely.”

8. How could empathy be bad?

9. 1) Empathy reflects our
prejudices
 Sandy Hook Elementary School
(2012)
◦ 21 kids and 6 adults killed

10. 1) Empathy reflects our
prejudices
 MRI - electric shock study

11. 2) Empathy focuses us on
whoever is in front of us and
visible
 Quality-Life Foundation test
◦ High empathy group vs. low empathy
group

12. 3) Empathy favors the one over
the many

13. 4) Empathy can overwhelm us
and prevent us from doing good
 Husband and wife rescue team
 Buddhist experiment

14. 5) Empathy drives short term
thinking with long-term
consequences
 Child beggars in India
 Cambodian orphanages
 War lords in Africa

15. How these problems creep into
our public policy
 Victim statements during the sentencing
phase
◦ How much they cry, same skin color
 War experiment
◦ Measured empathy
◦ Response to atrocity (0 = nothing, 2 =
economic, 4 = air strikes, 6 = full-scale
invasion)
 Foreign Aid
◦ Often puts local farmers and
markets out of business

16. Action Items
 Listen to your head, not your heart
when making moral, charity, fairness, and justice
decisions
 Visit effectivealtruism.org – “Rather than
just doing what feels right, we use evidence and
careful analysis to find the very best causes to
work on.”
 Use givewell.org – monitor the efficacy of
charities to determine which ones make the most
difference

17. Discussion Questions
1. Do you find any of the arguments against
empathy compelling? Which ones and why?
2. Describe a recent decision that you made out
of empathy that you might want to rethink.
3. What are some parts of your life that you
think would be better if you were more
empathetic?
4. What are some strategies you could use to
keep yourself from making poor decisions
based on empathetic appeals?

18. Closing Quote
“Perhaps empathy is like milk. Adults
don’t need milk; we do fine without it. But
babies need milk to grow. [Perhaps
empathy is] the developmental core of
morality. . . but ultimately we develop
caring without having to step into other
people’s shoes.”
-- Paul Bloom