Abstract
If one has access only to one’s own mind – since the mind is intrinsically subjective – then how does one know the mental state of others? One does so by empathy, to the extent that one does so at all. However, the basic mechanism of embodied simulation describes only a form of proto-empathy. In this chapter, Solms discusses empathy as process with affective and spatial components: the empathic subject projects (“feels”) itself into the object. The crux of the problem of empathy is the accurate spatial attribution of affect. Here, the psychoanalytic account of affect and the theory of narcissism help to shed light on the underlying mental processes. Finally, the author illustrates this with a case of anosognosia.
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Notes
- 1.
Misperception of the intentionality of the artist (as opposed to the artwork) is another matter entirely. Also, artists can represent their intentions poorly.
- 2.
This is closely related to the well-established “self-serving bias” of social psychologists (see Forsyth, 2007).
- 3.
One is reminded of the Christian empathic moral: “Love thy neighbor as thyself”.
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Solms, M. (2017). Empathy and Other Minds – A Neuropsychoanalytic Perspective and a Clinical Vignette. In: Lux, V., Weigel, S. (eds) Empathy. Palgrave Studies in the Theory and History of Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51299-4_4
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