Lou Agosta, PhD, is the author of three academic, peer-reviewed books on empathy (including A Rumor of Empathy) and one popular treatment of the subject (Empathy Lessons). He has taught philosophy at Loyola University, Roosevelt University, and DePaul University in Chicago (USA). He currently teaches Empathy Lessons at Ross Medical University at Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago. He has published and presented widely on issues relating to philosophy and empathy. His most recent (2020) book is entitled Empathy: A Lazy Peron’s Guide, is a light-hearted look at empathy and contains some 28 color illustrations by the celebrated artist Alex Zonis. His PhD is from the University of Chicago. He engages in an empathy consulting and talk therapy practice in the Chicago area (USA). Supervisors: Stephen Toulmin and Paul Ricoeur
The philosopher David Hume (never a stickler for consistency) defines “sympathy” at least four di... more The philosopher David Hume (never a stickler for consistency) defines “sympathy” at least four different ways in his “Treatise of Human Nature” (1739) including emotional contagion, benevolence, the power of suggestion, a double representation (idea) of the impression of another, and “a delicacy of sympathy – and taste.” The second to last comes close to what we mean by empathy today. Did you know the word “empathy” was not even invented in English until the 1890s. Edward Bradford Titchener – the Cornell University Psychologist was translating his teacher, Wilhelm Wundt, and he invented “empathy” to translate the German “Einfühlung”. Did you know the psychologist Theodor Lipps substitutes “empathy” [Einfühlung] for aesthetic taste in his three volume Aesthetics – so if you want to expand your empathy, go to the art institute and open yourself to the experiences available. Empathy gets traction with the phenomenologists such as Edmund Husserl, Edith Stein, Max Scheler, Heidegger....
Professor Turkle gets off a good “Jeremiad” about the damaging effects of beeping, chirping, dist... more Professor Turkle gets off a good “Jeremiad” about the damaging effects of beeping, chirping, distracting, interrupting, messaging device. One of the main negative effects is a kind of acquired attention deficit on the part of large segments of the population/community. Key term: acquired attention deficit.
A lot of distance exists on the spectrum between "better than nothing" and "better than everything else."
Turkle’s “from better than nothing to better than anything” is a straw man (person) to be shot down. Like Winnicott's "good enough" mother - therapy strives to be "good enough" - trying to be perfect is another source of pathology - becoming obsessive or borderline.
Now how does all that apply to performing psychotherapy online via video meeting technology? Check out this engaging conversation between Arnon and Lou about Turkle's contribution.
This presentation maps Heidegger's existential design distinctions [Being and Time (1926)] of att... more This presentation maps Heidegger's existential design distinctions [Being and Time (1926)] of attunement (Befindlichkeit), understanding (Verstehen), interpretation as a derivative mode of understanding (Auslegun), and discourse/talk (Rede) onto a Heideggerian definition of empathy that encompasses four intertwined "equiprimordial" aspects: empathic receptivity, empathic understanding, empathic interpretation, and empathic responsiveness (in listening). [And all in eighteen and a half minutes.]
The one minute empathy training: Personal Statement by Lou Agosta of his commitment to providing ... more The one minute empathy training: Personal Statement by Lou Agosta of his commitment to providing an empathic listening to anyone who needs expanded empathy
Most people think that empathy is compassion. And while the world needs more compassion, empathy ... more Most people think that empathy is compassion. And while the world needs more compassion, empathy is distinct from compassion. Empathy tells me what the other individual is experiencing; compassion tells me what to do about it. Engages with examples from world literature, including Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks and Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie. The scenes include empathic receptivity in Hanno's trip to the dentist and empathic understanding in Thomas' encounter with Hanno during the long silence as Gerda makes music with The Lieutenant. Empathic responsiveness is powerfully illustrated in William's work with Blue Roses. Not to be missed!
Explore the secret underground history of empathy in such thinkers as David Hume, Immanuel Kant, ... more Explore the secret underground history of empathy in such thinkers as David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Theodor Lipps, Sigmund Freud, Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger in this lecture.
Did you know? The philosopher David Hume (never a stickler for consistency) defines “sympathy” at least four different ways in his “Treatise of Human Nature” (1739) including emotional contagion, benevolence, the power of suggestion, a double representation (idea) of the impression of another, and “a delicacy of sympathy – and taste.” The second to last comes close to what we mean by empathy today. Did you know the word “empathy” was not even invented in English until the 1890s. Edward Bradford Titchener – the Cornell University Psychologist was translating his teacher, Wilhelm Wundt, and he invented “empathy” to translate the German “Einfühlung”. Did you know the psychologist Theodor Lipps substitutes “empathy” [Einfühlung] for aesthetic taste in his three volume Aesthetics – so if you want to expand ....
Interview with Serena Low, Executive Director of Apna Ghar (Our Home) and the Struggle Against Do... more Interview with Serena Low, Executive Director of Apna Ghar (Our Home) and the Struggle Against Domestic Violence [2013-01-18]
The argument of this article is that Hume uses multiple definitions of “sympathy” and that they m... more The argument of this article is that Hume uses multiple definitions of “sympathy” and that they map closely to the multidimensional meaning of empathy, which distinguishes empathic receptivity, empathic understanding, empathic interpretation, and empathic responsiveness. The section on how Hume is relevant today uses “humanity” as a bridge between sympathy and empathy. A review of the literature on the debate about sympathy in the Hume literature is provided to establish what has been overlooked in the many meanings of sympathy, namely, receptivity, interpretation, and optimal responsiveness. These are then engaged in the sections on sympathy as receptivity to affects, interpretation, and optimal responsiveness, each correlated with the parallel aspects of empathy
... From data to insight: the critical path to data mining, a short history of data mining. Autho... more ... From data to insight: the critical path to data mining, a short history of data mining. Author: LouAgosta, Published in: · Journal. PC AI archive. Volume 14 Issue 5, Sept./Oct. 2000 Knowledge Technology, Inc. Phoenix, AZ, USA table of contents. 2000 Article. Bibliometrics. ...
In Heidegger’s Being and Time, the alternative of being with other individuals inauthentically is... more In Heidegger’s Being and Time, the alternative of being with other individuals inauthentically is contrasted with authentically being alone in the face of death, one’s own individualizing and inevitable demise.
The third choice of authentically being with other human beings is neglected, relegated to a few parenthetical remarks that dismiss empathy (Einfühlung). The possibility of authentic being human with others is delimited but, for the most part, not developed. This chapter gathers together and develops those remarks, applying the basic Heideggerian distinctions of affectedness, understanding, interpretation,
assertion and speech to an interpretation and implementation of empathy.
In the remarks on empathy in the Cartesian Meditations that Husserl publishes in his lifetime, em... more In the remarks on empathy in the Cartesian Meditations that Husserl publishes in his lifetime, empathy is placed in the superstructure, and at the periphery of intersubjectivity, not the foundation, of intersubjectivity and receptivity to the animate life of Others. However, if one examines the Nachlass, especially volumes XIV and XV, empathy [Einfühlung] is moving steadily and decisively from the periphery to the foundation of intersubjectivity. This chapter considers the details.
The philosopher David Hume (never a stickler for consistency) defines “sympathy” at least four di... more The philosopher David Hume (never a stickler for consistency) defines “sympathy” at least four different ways in his “Treatise of Human Nature” (1739) including emotional contagion, benevolence, the power of suggestion, a double representation (idea) of the impression of another, and “a delicacy of sympathy – and taste.” The second to last comes close to what we mean by empathy today. Did you know the word “empathy” was not even invented in English until the 1890s. Edward Bradford Titchener – the Cornell University Psychologist was translating his teacher, Wilhelm Wundt, and he invented “empathy” to translate the German “Einfühlung”. Did you know the psychologist Theodor Lipps substitutes “empathy” [Einfühlung] for aesthetic taste in his three volume Aesthetics – so if you want to expand your empathy, go to the art institute and open yourself to the experiences available. Empathy gets traction with the phenomenologists such as Edmund Husserl, Edith Stein, Max Scheler, Heidegger....
Professor Turkle gets off a good “Jeremiad” about the damaging effects of beeping, chirping, dist... more Professor Turkle gets off a good “Jeremiad” about the damaging effects of beeping, chirping, distracting, interrupting, messaging device. One of the main negative effects is a kind of acquired attention deficit on the part of large segments of the population/community. Key term: acquired attention deficit.
A lot of distance exists on the spectrum between "better than nothing" and "better than everything else."
Turkle’s “from better than nothing to better than anything” is a straw man (person) to be shot down. Like Winnicott's "good enough" mother - therapy strives to be "good enough" - trying to be perfect is another source of pathology - becoming obsessive or borderline.
Now how does all that apply to performing psychotherapy online via video meeting technology? Check out this engaging conversation between Arnon and Lou about Turkle's contribution.
This presentation maps Heidegger's existential design distinctions [Being and Time (1926)] of att... more This presentation maps Heidegger's existential design distinctions [Being and Time (1926)] of attunement (Befindlichkeit), understanding (Verstehen), interpretation as a derivative mode of understanding (Auslegun), and discourse/talk (Rede) onto a Heideggerian definition of empathy that encompasses four intertwined "equiprimordial" aspects: empathic receptivity, empathic understanding, empathic interpretation, and empathic responsiveness (in listening). [And all in eighteen and a half minutes.]
The one minute empathy training: Personal Statement by Lou Agosta of his commitment to providing ... more The one minute empathy training: Personal Statement by Lou Agosta of his commitment to providing an empathic listening to anyone who needs expanded empathy
Most people think that empathy is compassion. And while the world needs more compassion, empathy ... more Most people think that empathy is compassion. And while the world needs more compassion, empathy is distinct from compassion. Empathy tells me what the other individual is experiencing; compassion tells me what to do about it. Engages with examples from world literature, including Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks and Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie. The scenes include empathic receptivity in Hanno's trip to the dentist and empathic understanding in Thomas' encounter with Hanno during the long silence as Gerda makes music with The Lieutenant. Empathic responsiveness is powerfully illustrated in William's work with Blue Roses. Not to be missed!
Explore the secret underground history of empathy in such thinkers as David Hume, Immanuel Kant, ... more Explore the secret underground history of empathy in such thinkers as David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Theodor Lipps, Sigmund Freud, Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger in this lecture.
Did you know? The philosopher David Hume (never a stickler for consistency) defines “sympathy” at least four different ways in his “Treatise of Human Nature” (1739) including emotional contagion, benevolence, the power of suggestion, a double representation (idea) of the impression of another, and “a delicacy of sympathy – and taste.” The second to last comes close to what we mean by empathy today. Did you know the word “empathy” was not even invented in English until the 1890s. Edward Bradford Titchener – the Cornell University Psychologist was translating his teacher, Wilhelm Wundt, and he invented “empathy” to translate the German “Einfühlung”. Did you know the psychologist Theodor Lipps substitutes “empathy” [Einfühlung] for aesthetic taste in his three volume Aesthetics – so if you want to expand ....
Interview with Serena Low, Executive Director of Apna Ghar (Our Home) and the Struggle Against Do... more Interview with Serena Low, Executive Director of Apna Ghar (Our Home) and the Struggle Against Domestic Violence [2013-01-18]
The argument of this article is that Hume uses multiple definitions of “sympathy” and that they m... more The argument of this article is that Hume uses multiple definitions of “sympathy” and that they map closely to the multidimensional meaning of empathy, which distinguishes empathic receptivity, empathic understanding, empathic interpretation, and empathic responsiveness. The section on how Hume is relevant today uses “humanity” as a bridge between sympathy and empathy. A review of the literature on the debate about sympathy in the Hume literature is provided to establish what has been overlooked in the many meanings of sympathy, namely, receptivity, interpretation, and optimal responsiveness. These are then engaged in the sections on sympathy as receptivity to affects, interpretation, and optimal responsiveness, each correlated with the parallel aspects of empathy
... From data to insight: the critical path to data mining, a short history of data mining. Autho... more ... From data to insight: the critical path to data mining, a short history of data mining. Author: LouAgosta, Published in: · Journal. PC AI archive. Volume 14 Issue 5, Sept./Oct. 2000 Knowledge Technology, Inc. Phoenix, AZ, USA table of contents. 2000 Article. Bibliometrics. ...
In Heidegger’s Being and Time, the alternative of being with other individuals inauthentically is... more In Heidegger’s Being and Time, the alternative of being with other individuals inauthentically is contrasted with authentically being alone in the face of death, one’s own individualizing and inevitable demise.
The third choice of authentically being with other human beings is neglected, relegated to a few parenthetical remarks that dismiss empathy (Einfühlung). The possibility of authentic being human with others is delimited but, for the most part, not developed. This chapter gathers together and develops those remarks, applying the basic Heideggerian distinctions of affectedness, understanding, interpretation,
assertion and speech to an interpretation and implementation of empathy.
In the remarks on empathy in the Cartesian Meditations that Husserl publishes in his lifetime, em... more In the remarks on empathy in the Cartesian Meditations that Husserl publishes in his lifetime, empathy is placed in the superstructure, and at the periphery of intersubjectivity, not the foundation, of intersubjectivity and receptivity to the animate life of Others. However, if one examines the Nachlass, especially volumes XIV and XV, empathy [Einfühlung] is moving steadily and decisively from the periphery to the foundation of intersubjectivity. This chapter considers the details.
This eight page introduction provides a multi-dimensional definition of empathy in terms of empat... more This eight page introduction provides a multi-dimensional definition of empathy in terms of empathic receptivity, empathic understanding, empathic interpretation, and empathic responsiveness from A Rumor of Empathy: Rewriting Empathy in the Context of Philosophy (Palgrave Pivot 2014)
Introduction: Some basic distinctions used in the book that follows: The approach is inspired by ... more Introduction: Some basic distinctions used in the book that follows: The approach is inspired by Heidegger's ontological destruction of the history of being, and it aims to clear away a prior forgetfulness in which we levee - in this case regarding EMPATHY.
International journal of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, 1976
The introduction establishes a general view of the literature in which philosophers have profited... more The introduction establishes a general view of the literature in which philosophers have profited from their encounters with analysis. It provides a frame within which to present more specific ideas about the method and language of psychoanalysis as viewed by philosophers. The method of interpretive reconstruction is unfolded from its original context of Freud's archaeological analogy. Further, the vocabulary of reconstruction, which is an intimate part of this analogy, is employed by Anna Freud is her discussion of defense mechanisms. Texts are cited and explicated. Meanwhile, the method of reconstruction is given independent, though related, application in the work of R. G. Collingwood, an archaeologist-philosopher-historian. The juxtaposition of Freud and Collingwood suggests that the methods of philosophy and analysis are more alike than the particular problems they try to solve. Both methods are oriented toward solving the problem of discovering meaning amid absurdity. The ...
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Videos by Lou Agosta
A lot of distance exists on the spectrum between "better than nothing" and "better than everything else."
Turkle’s “from better than nothing to better than anything” is a straw man (person) to be shot down. Like Winnicott's "good enough" mother - therapy strives to be "good enough" - trying to be perfect is another source of pathology - becoming obsessive or borderline.
Now how does all that apply to performing psychotherapy online via video meeting technology? Check out this engaging conversation between Arnon and Lou about Turkle's contribution.
Did you know? The philosopher David Hume (never a stickler for consistency) defines “sympathy” at least four different ways in his “Treatise of Human Nature” (1739) including emotional contagion, benevolence, the power of suggestion, a double representation (idea) of the impression of another, and “a delicacy of sympathy – and taste.” The second to last comes close to what we mean by empathy today. Did you know the word “empathy” was not even invented in English until the 1890s. Edward Bradford Titchener – the Cornell University Psychologist was translating his teacher, Wilhelm Wundt, and he invented “empathy” to translate the German “Einfühlung”. Did you know the psychologist Theodor Lipps substitutes “empathy” [Einfühlung] for aesthetic taste in his three volume Aesthetics – so if you want to expand ....
Papers by Lou Agosta
The third choice of authentically being with other human beings is neglected, relegated to a few parenthetical remarks that dismiss empathy (Einfühlung). The possibility of authentic being human with others is delimited but, for the most part, not developed. This chapter gathers together and develops those remarks, applying the basic Heideggerian distinctions of affectedness, understanding, interpretation,
assertion and speech to an interpretation and implementation of empathy.
A lot of distance exists on the spectrum between "better than nothing" and "better than everything else."
Turkle’s “from better than nothing to better than anything” is a straw man (person) to be shot down. Like Winnicott's "good enough" mother - therapy strives to be "good enough" - trying to be perfect is another source of pathology - becoming obsessive or borderline.
Now how does all that apply to performing psychotherapy online via video meeting technology? Check out this engaging conversation between Arnon and Lou about Turkle's contribution.
Did you know? The philosopher David Hume (never a stickler for consistency) defines “sympathy” at least four different ways in his “Treatise of Human Nature” (1739) including emotional contagion, benevolence, the power of suggestion, a double representation (idea) of the impression of another, and “a delicacy of sympathy – and taste.” The second to last comes close to what we mean by empathy today. Did you know the word “empathy” was not even invented in English until the 1890s. Edward Bradford Titchener – the Cornell University Psychologist was translating his teacher, Wilhelm Wundt, and he invented “empathy” to translate the German “Einfühlung”. Did you know the psychologist Theodor Lipps substitutes “empathy” [Einfühlung] for aesthetic taste in his three volume Aesthetics – so if you want to expand ....
The third choice of authentically being with other human beings is neglected, relegated to a few parenthetical remarks that dismiss empathy (Einfühlung). The possibility of authentic being human with others is delimited but, for the most part, not developed. This chapter gathers together and develops those remarks, applying the basic Heideggerian distinctions of affectedness, understanding, interpretation,
assertion and speech to an interpretation and implementation of empathy.