Against empathy

In a world that seems selfish and narcissistic, with crumbling foundations, it is certain that obtaining a greater dose of empathy and empathy would be wonderful. But this is not the case from the perspective of psychologist Paul Bloom, who sees that empathy, in general, is one of the negative emotions in human life. It is "not like cholesterol. Rather, it is sugary, tempting, delicious, and also harmful to us." Against empathy is an attempt to explain the reasons that led Bloom to make this statement. Bloom developed in the chapters of the book a compelling argument against empathy, and among the reasons that make insight, kindness, self-control, and compassion much better alternatives, as they occupy an essential position in what he calls the virtuous moral life. He distinguished between emotional empathy, which is manifested in the saying "put yourself in the other’s place" and "feel what they feel in pain," and cognitive empathy, associated with perception and social intelligence, understanding the mechanism of others’ experience of the world without the need to emotionally engage with it. Despite the debates raised by the book about empathy, compassion, pity, and the decision-making process and how they all work, it was able to say that empathy can motivate us to be kind and make the world a better place.