Edith Stein S On The Problem Of Empathy

This book explores the phenomenological investigations of Edith Stein by critically contextualising her role within the phenomenological movement and assessing her accounts of empathy, sociality, and personhood. Despite the growing interest that surrounds contemporary research on empathy, Edith Stein’s phenomenological investigations have been largely neglected due to a historical tradition that tends to consider her either as Husserl’s assistant or as a martyr. However, in her phenomenological research, Edith Stein pursued critically the relation between phenomenology and psychology, focusing on the relation between affectivity, subjectivity, and personhood. Alongside phenomenologists like Max Scheler, Kurt Stavenhagen, and Hedwig Conrad-Martius, Stein developed Husserl’s method, incorporating several original modifications that are relevant for philosophy, phenomenology, and ethics. Drawing on recent debates on empathy, emotions, and collective intentionality as well as on original inquiries and interpretations, the collection articulates and develops new perspectives regarding Edith Stein’s phenomenology. The volume includes an appraisal of Stein’s philosophical relation to Edmund Husserl and Max Scheler, and develops further the concepts of empathy, sociality, and personhood. These essays demonstrate the significance of Stein’s phenomenology for contemporary research on intentionality, emotions, and ethics. Gathering together contributions from young researchers and leading scholars in the fields of phenomenology, social ontology, and history of philosophy, this collection provides original views and critical discussions that will be of interest also for social philosophers and moral psychologists.

Each volume in the Ex Libris series provides a glimpse into the writings of a renowned Catholic author, introducing the spirituality and thought of a great man or woman of faith. Saint Edith Stein (1891-1942), also known as Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, was born in Breslau, Germany, of devout Jewish parents. In adolescence, she became an atheist. She went on to study philosophy with one of the greatest thinkers of the time, Edmund Husserl, and became a prolific writer and lecturer. Her search for truth led her to become Catholic, and she later joined the Carmelite Order, where her writings took on a more theological and spiritual tone. In these excerpts from the writings of Edith Stein, discover the authentic beauty of her honest pursuit of truth, her sincere desire to sacrifice for the good of others, and her joyful and generous correspondence with friends. Questions for personal study and group discussion are also included. Book jacket.

Empathy's centrality to morality is heavily debated. Many religious and philosophical traditions have favoured empathy, sympathy, or compassion as key to moral thought, conduct, or motivation. This collection brings together original papers in philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, anthropology, and neuroscience to give a comprehensive overview of the issue, and includes an extensive survey of empathy and empathy-related emotions. It is distinctive in focusing on the moral import of empathy and sympathy.