Edith Stein's Phenomenological Analysis of Empathy and her Contributions to Psychology

Abstract

The concept of empathy (Einfühlung) has been studied and used by several disciplines, marking a conceptual history of disagreements and discrepancies. In Psychology, empathy has been discussed particularly by researchers and professionals in clinical, social and developmental areas. Among so many ways to explain and understand this phenomenon, a movement that is rarely undertaken is to revisit the philosophical and psychological debate about empathy during the first decades of the 20th century. In this work, we seek to revisit the concept of empathy, highlighting the analysis undertaken by the philosopher E. Stein, who promoted an anthropological-phenomenological analysis of empathy, analyzing this act as opposed to other acts of pure consciousness, dialoguing with authors such as Th. Lipps and M. Scheler. Finally, we seek to contrast Rogers' conception of empathy and the current post-Rogerian works of humanist-existential approaches, with the analysis developed by Stein. Finally, in general, empathy can be understood as a non-originating experience due to its content, which allows us to have an experience originating from the other in an empathizing presentification.