Empathy for Empathy’s Sake: Aesthetics and Everyday Empathic Sadism

Abstract

This article examines an aberration of empathy that shows a morally problematic aspect of empathy. The examination focuses on a form of behavior that will be described as empathy for empathy’s sake. This empathy for empathy’s sake enables many forms of aesthetic experiences, ranging from the sublime to enjoyment of tragedies. It also can be a feature of everyday life in what will be called empathic sadism: when one manipulates others to predict and simulate their (usually negative) inner state, ranging from teasing to actual pain infliction.