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The Human Experience

Empathy & Sympathy

James R. Robinson asks, how do they relate, and how do they differ?

‘Empathy’ and ‘sympathy’ are often used interchangeably, because they are related terms. However, they differ in some important ways, which I hope to make clear. Affections are the star of the show in this article, because my explanation of empathy and sympathy as emotional mechanisms rests upon them being different ways of relating to affections. So I will first attempt to explain what affections are, then why affections are important for understanding empathy and sympathy, before then explaining how empathy and sympathy relate, and how they are different.

Contrasting Affections to Passions

Affections are, simply put, the mental expression of emotions.

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