Being Me Being You: Adam Smith and Empathy

Modern notions of empathy often celebrate its ability to bridge divides, to unite humankind. Yet how do we square this with the popular view that we can never truly comprehend the experience of being someone else? In this book, Samuel Fleischacker delves into the work of Adam Smith to draw out an understanding of empathy that respects both personal difference and shared humanity.After laying out a range of meanings for the concept of empathy, Fleischacker proposes that what Smith called “sympathy” is very much what we today consider empathy. Smith’s version has remarkable value, as his empathy calls for entering into the perspective of another–a uniquely human feat that connects people while still allowing them to define their own distinctive standpoints. After discussing Smith’s views in relation to more recent empirical and philosophical studies, Fleischacker shows how turning back to Smith promises to enrich, clarify, and advance our current debates about the meaning and uses of empathy.

Reviews of Being Me Being You: Adam Smith and Empathy

"In this impressive book, Fleischacker conducts an inquiry into the intersection of two currently much discussed topics: the ethical import of empathy and the philosophy of Adam Smith. Writing with elegance, insight, and an admirable degree of intellectual breadth, Fleischacker adjudicates the multiple uses and misuses of the term empathy in the literature, criticizes currently fashionable rejections of empathy's moral value, and defends his own account in harmony with his interpretation of Smith's outlook. This is a major contribution."–C.A.J. (Tony) Coady, University of Melbourne