Sympathy or Empathy ???
Should you sympathise or should you empathise? When do you sympathise & when do you empathise???
The meaning from my computer dictionary I got ---
Sympathy (Noun)
1. An inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion
2. Sharing the feelings of others (especially feelings of sorrow or anguish)
3. A relation of affinity or harmony between people; whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other
Empathy (Noun)
1. Understanding and entering into another's feelings
The meaning from my www.dictionary.com I got ---
sym·pa·thy n.
1) a. A relationship or an affinity between people or things in which whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other.
b. Mutual understanding or affection arising from this relationship or affinity.
2) a. The act or power of sharing the feelings of another.
b. A feeling or an expression of pity or sorrow for the distress of another; compassion or commiseration. Often used in the plural. See Synonyms at pity.
3) Harmonious agreement; accord: He is in sympathy with their beliefs.
4) A feeling of loyalty; allegiance. Often used in the plural: His sympathies lie with his family.
5) Physiology. A relation between parts or organs by which a disease or disorder in one induces an effect in the other
em·pa·thy n.
1) a. Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives. See Synonyms at pity.
b. The attribution of one's own feelings to an object.
2) a. Direct identification with, understanding of, and vicarious experience of another person's situation, feelings, and motives.
b. The projection of one's own feelings or emotional state onto an object or animal
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Okay... I understand clearly what each definition means... but I'm still confused.
& what I understand is...
Sympathy is just feeling/sharing another persons emotions, but empathy is trying to understand another person's feelings/emotions
Say, some people are really suffering in a remote corner of the world from starvation...
1) do you sympathise or empathise???
2) should you sympathise or empathise???
Comments are most welcome!!! English pundits... Oxford scholars... please help!
The meaning from my computer dictionary I got ---
Sympathy (Noun)
1. An inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion
2. Sharing the feelings of others (especially feelings of sorrow or anguish)
3. A relation of affinity or harmony between people; whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other
Empathy (Noun)
1. Understanding and entering into another's feelings
The meaning from my www.dictionary.com I got ---
sym·pa·thy n.
1) a. A relationship or an affinity between people or things in which whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other.
b. Mutual understanding or affection arising from this relationship or affinity.
2) a. The act or power of sharing the feelings of another.
b. A feeling or an expression of pity or sorrow for the distress of another; compassion or commiseration. Often used in the plural. See Synonyms at pity.
3) Harmonious agreement; accord: He is in sympathy with their beliefs.
4) A feeling of loyalty; allegiance. Often used in the plural: His sympathies lie with his family.
5) Physiology. A relation between parts or organs by which a disease or disorder in one induces an effect in the other
em·pa·thy n.
1) a. Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives. See Synonyms at pity.
b. The attribution of one's own feelings to an object.
2) a. Direct identification with, understanding of, and vicarious experience of another person's situation, feelings, and motives.
b. The projection of one's own feelings or emotional state onto an object or animal
***************************************************
Okay... I understand clearly what each definition means... but I'm still confused.
& what I understand is...
Sympathy is just feeling/sharing another persons emotions, but empathy is trying to understand another person's feelings/emotions
Say, some people are really suffering in a remote corner of the world from starvation...
1) do you sympathise or empathise???
2) should you sympathise or empathise???
Comments are most welcome!!! English pundits... Oxford scholars... please help!
posted by pk153 at 1:31 am
1 Comments:
You can sympathise only if you understand what it means to be dieing of starvation... but you can always act with empathy... that's what I say, based on your understanding of the two words...
However, why should one of the feelings prevent the other from occurring?
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