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Empathy in Design: A Historical and Cross-Disciplinary Perspective

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Advances in Neuroergonomics and Cognitive Engineering (AHFE 2017)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 586))

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Abstract

From a historical and cross-disciplined perspective, this paper reviewed the evolvement of empathy in philosophical aesthetics, sociology and psychotherapy. Three aspects of ambiguities about empathy were summarized, namely, affection and cognition, subject-oriented and object-oriented perspective, and attitude and ability, based on which a system of coordinates was created to indicate three pairs corresponding problems of empathy in design research and practice. Through this system of coordinates, the authors wanted to build a reference for designers and researchers to deeper understand the subtle nature of empathy in design.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Chinese term ‘Gongqing’ means sharing emotion with others, while ‘Tongli’ refers to understanding the same.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Yumei Dong, Hua Dong & Shu Yuan

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  1. Yumei Dong
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  2. Hua Dong
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  3. Shu Yuan
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Correspondence to Hua Dong .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Human Factors and Applied Cognition, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA

    Carryl Baldwin

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Dong, Y., Dong, H., Yuan, S. (2018). Empathy in Design: A Historical and Cross-Disciplinary Perspective. In: Baldwin, C. (eds) Advances in Neuroergonomics and Cognitive Engineering. AHFE 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 586. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60642-2_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60642-2_28

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60641-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60642-2

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