The Paradox of Emapthy

L. A. Paul (Yale University), Alain Pe-Curto (Yale University)

What is the Paradox of Empathy? L. A. Paul (Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Yale) will give an online talk presenting an original view on this issue on April 22 at 6pm (CET).

The talk will be chaired by Alain Pe-Curto (Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale).

Title of the talk: ‘The Paradox of Empathy’.

The talk will be held both on Zoom and Facebook. To receive the link to the Zoom meeting, you can either send a message to our Facebook page or write an email to [email protected]. Join us!

Have a look at the abstract of the talk:

A commitment to truth requires that you are open to receiving new evidence even if that evidence contradicts your current beliefs. You should be open to changing your mind. However, this truism gives rise to the paradox of empathy. The paradox arises with the possibility of mental corruption through transformative change, and has consequences for how we should understand tolerance, disagreement, and the ability to have an open mind. I close with a discussion of how understanding this paradox provides a new explanation for a certain kind of standoff between the believer and the skeptic with regard to religious belief.

This talk is part of the Lugano Philosophy Colloquia - a series of events organised by:

- Master in Philosophy at USI

- Ratio - philosophical association 

- Istituto di Studi Filosofici, Lugano