Special Issue on Empathy, Fiction, and Imagination

Dear SCSMI members,

I’m happy to announce my first paper in a genuine philosophical journal.

Empathy as the Opposite of Egocentrism: Why the Simulation Theory and the Direct Perception Theory of Empathy Fail (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11245-018-09630-5)

The paper is part of an almost completed special issue of Topoi (https://link.springer.com/journal/11245) on “empathy, fiction, and imagination” edited by Susanne Schmetkamp and Ingrid Vendrell Ferran. A second focus of the issue is on phenomenological approaches to empathy which haven’t received that much attention by cognitive film scholars yet.

Two papers (one by Christina Werner, the other by Francesca De Vecchi and Francesca Forlè) address the issue of whether there is a difference between empathizing with fictional characters and empathy in the real world. Members who write about acting might be interested in the paper by Shaun Gallagher about “an actors empathy for her character” that he co-wrote with his daughter Julia who is a professional actress. Suzanne Keen has contributed a paper on “empathic inaccuracy in narrative fiction”, and there is also a new take on the puzzle of imaginative resistance by Thomas Szanto (forthcoming) among others.

You can find the papers by browsing the “latest articles” section. The issue number will be assigned at a later point in time.

Looking forward to seeing you all in Hamburg,

Robert

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