Essay On Empathy

A man has just watched a video of a policeman shooting a black criminal and read an article that followed on why police are racist. He now believes that police are racist and is prejudiced against them. This man showed empathy, or the ability to share others’ feelings. His empathy, however, rendered him short-sighted and biased. The article exploited the man’s empathy and used his empathy to influence his beliefs. Having empathy is a liability when taking moral action rather than a guide because having empathy leads to bias, a lack of reason, and confusion between empathy and compassion. One’s empathy is a hindrance because having empathy can lead to being unfairly biased for or against a certain cause, idea, or person. An example of this

Bloom states: “And it is subject to bias- both laboratory studies and anecdotal experiences show that empathy flows most for those who look like us, who are attractive and who are non-threatening and familiar” (“Empathy Can Lead” 1). Empathy’s flaw that is bias makes empathy a lackluster guide to moral action. This bias can lead to unfair and hasty assumptions, which in turn, obstructs truth and reason. One’s empathy could easily be turned unfairly for or against other people due to the bias that empathy causes. The assumption that empathy does not lead to bias is simply not true because the emotion that comes from empathy leads to bias. Due to this emotional bias, one is less likely to consider the other side of a possible argument. Paul Bloom states:”Similarly, empathy can be