Empathy vs. Conscience; NTs don't get it

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Okay....Kant didn't believe that; but I do!

Kant was a great Enlightenment philosopher--he was not infallible, though.

If one blindly follows great philosophers, one will, eventually, go over a cliff because you're not concentrating on the Real World

a) what do you mean Kant didn't believe that? Please explain because I'd love to stand corrected.

b) But that's the whole point of philosophy, according many philosophers such as the Cynics, Existentialists, Plutarch, Socrates & the Stoics - to develop a detachment from the world so that you're better equipped to deal with upset. These philosophers use death and the vastness of the universe as a way of putting the hardships of life into perspective.

I don't see how understanding the difference between lack of or uncommon kind of empathy and lack of consience has anything to do with being NT or not.

Personally although I've found some philosophical concepts a useful way of furthering my thinking, overall I take philosophy and the whole idea of "virtuousness" etc. with a pinch of salt. I don't know if there's a name for my approach to all this morality stuff. For me, conscience is something we get saddled with, we internalise codes of conduct that our fallible caregivers laid on us. Some of it helps us to rub along with other people and enhances group survival, some of it doesn't. Empathy as a concept has this problem of having more than one definition or subtype, which leads to a lot of confusion especially when the subtype isn't specified. To my mind, cognitive and affective empathy are so different that it would be much clearer if completely different terms were used for them. When empathy levels are assigned to people, I think we tend to get competition, "I am more moral than you," or "NTs are more moral than Aspies" etc. I don't think empathy is a constant for any given human being. For me, there's no such thing as a badass, individuals are simply either a threat to me and my loved ones or they're not.

greetings all,

thank you for this post. i tend to have too much empathy, although i may not express it in a way others do does not mean i do not feel it or see it. actually, i feel a great deal of pain from others and the collective. when i see folks in need or in pain, i can somehow shut myself down in order to be there for them. the hard part is that most people want an answer to their problems or a response to what they have said. sometimes there is no response needed... that is where it completely blind sides them and i look like i don't have feelings...! then, i feel guilty like i should have had an answer.... they walk away confused and so do i, because they didn't see the obvious...

with peace,

JanusOne

Empathy -- mirroring other people's behavior
Conscience -- rectitude

I think that autistic people are particularly sensitive, even to the point of overload, neither numb nor unfair.

You said that Kant believed that a person is not virtuous just because he/she helped someone he/she felt sorry for.

I disagreed with Kant's viewpoint on this.

I believe it is a sign of virtue to help other people. Though, sometimes, if a person feels sorry for HIM/HERSELF, then that person should be made to help him/herself.