Unfortunately, in Lipps one finds also a much broader sense of empathy that is not compatible with the notion of empathy as a form of vicarious imitation.
For the president, that idea is at the core of his approach to politics and to his broader philosophy of empathy, of being able to identify with the concerns and understand the perspective of a fellow American different from oneself.
Moreover, broader definitions of empathy include non-congruous reactions to the experience of others' emotional state, like sympathy and concern, but also self-oriented, mainly aversive feelings [2].
It is based on a broad definition of empathy in the context of a therapeutic relationship within the care environment, and has been evaluated and accredited for use in measuring the human aspects of clinical encounters.
However across differing fields of study such as psychology, child and adolescent development and criminology there is a broad consensus that empathy is a multidimensional construct comprising: a] an affective capacity to be sensitive to and concerned for another person [ 16- 19].
She also brought to her task personal qualities of intuition, empathy and broad cultural perspective.
Broad City adds extra empathy into the mix: Abby and Ilana may be rubbish employees, girlfriends and flatmates, but at least they care about each other, unlike the girls of Girls, all self-centred and only out for themselves.
With Justice Sotomayor now confirmed, one lesson from her hearings is clear: There is a broad, surprising, consensus that empathy is not a desirable attribute for a Supreme Court justice.
Otherwise, skepticism like Sotomayor's only serves to reinforce the broader conservative critique that the "empathy standard" is not an enlightened tool for adjudication in the breach, but a proxy for partiality on the bench.
The second is that empathy is a broad concept with different definitions, and choosing a clear construct to assess is not a straightforward task.
