Empathy : The Contribution of Neuroscience to Social Analysis

This book examines the concept of empathy in sociological and neuroscientific discourses using innovative perspectives from sociology and social neuroscience. Through a transdisciplinary approach, the author delves into the history of empathy and its social, cultural and semantic changes, and then reviews the conception of empathy in neuroscientific discourse. Distancing itself from the traditional neuroscientific literature of biological universalism, this volume offers an innovative perspective on empathy. It also opens a new avenue for neurosociology, which is presented as the discipline that can emphasize all the cultural and emotional aspects that govern empathy. Key themes addressed in the text are: empathy in all its meanings, from Hume to TenHouten; neurosociology as one possible avenue for embracing the cultural and neuroscientific aspects of empathy; and empirical research. A valuable resource for sociology students and academics in the field of empathy and neurosociology, this book is also of interest to those studying sociological thought, and social neuroscience. Foreword 6 Contents 10 1: Introduction 13 Bibliography 17 2: Empathy: A Theoretical Starting Point 18 1 The Concept of Sympathy as Origin 21 2 Verstehen in Weber’s Idea 27 3 Schütz’s Critique of Weber’s Conceptualization: The Einfhulung 33 4 Lived Experience as an Element of Empathy: Simmel and the Erleben 39 5 Empathy from the Late Twentieth Century to the Present, Rifkin and de Waal 43 6 Empathy from de Waal’s Point of View 46 7 Toward an Applied Sociology, Empathy at the Center of Neurosociological Reflections 50 Bibliography 54 3: Trans-disciplinary Approach: Methodological Preface for an Applied Sociology 60 1 The Difference Between Various Approaches: Transdisciplinary, Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary 61 2 Transdisciplinarity Between Sociology and Social Neuroscience 63 3 The Trans-disciplinary Approach as a Tool of Inquiry Between Neuroscience and Sociology 68 4 Hardware and Software: Attempts at Laboratory Sociology 71 5 Problems and Questions About the Use of These Tools 73 6 The Trans-disciplinary Error in Empathic Conception 77 7 Transdisciplinarity, from Risk to Opportunity 83 Bibliography 94 4: Possible Integrations Between Sociology, Social Psychology and Social Neuroscience 100 1 How Social Neuroscience Can Contribute to Social Analysis 101 2 Transdisciplinarity Between Economics and Sociology 107 3 Transdisciplinarity Between Social Psychology and Sociology 110 4 Transdisciplinarity Between Social Neuroscience, Cultural Sociology and Sociology 112 5 Neurosociology as a Response to Transdisciplinary Discourses 117 6 Neurosociology in the Analysis of Empathy 130 Bibliography 138 5: Possible Applications of Empirical Research: The Subdivision of Empathy 151 1 Possible Methodological Approach of Applied Research 156 2 Setting Up the Research Environment 164 3 Research Methodology 167 4 The Theory of Embodiment 173 5 Some Practical Examples, from Empathy as Care to Virtual Empathy 178 Bibliography 184 6: Conclusions 187 1 Empathy and Emotion Analysis from Transdisciplinary Networks: The Example of IRNSN 198 Bibliography 206 Bibliography 210 Index 252