Talk:Empathic concern

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Untitled

Surely there is more to be said on this topic in terms of collective behaviour and socialism.

Feelings

"To empathize is to respond to another's perceived emotional state by experiencing feeling of a similar sort. Empathic concern or sympathy not only include empathizing, but also entails having a positive regard or a non-fleeting concern for the other person."

I'd like to improve this paragraph, but I wonder whether empathy occurs with respect to the perception of others' "emotional states" only, and what precisely is the relation between emotional states and feelings. I wonder, too, whether one can sympathize with another without a "positive regard" for the other, and what "concern" means. If I watch somebody blow out the candles on a birthday cake, must I have a persistent "concern" for him in order to experience even a fleeting sympathy? If I see a flashbulb go off (or a pie thrown) in the face of somebody for whom I have a negative "regard", why can't I sympathize with him anyway? Unfree (talk) 06:32, 13 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]