Democratic Empathy and Affective Polarization
Sharp D, Sodoma K (2023)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2023
Journal
Book Volume: 39
Pages Range: 71-87
DOI: 10.5840/socphiltoday202368101
Abstract
Social scientists have observed a sharp rise in affective polarization in many societies, particularly the United States. Since it is widely agreed that this poses a threat to democracy, finding solutions to this predicament is essential. One prominent proposal to depolarize the electorate holds that citizens need to exercise their capacities for empathy with the political opposition. However, defenders of the empathy response to affective polarization have yet to fully specify the range of mechanisms through which empathy can counteract polarization. Recent proposals focus on empathy’s role in finding common ground and humanizing others. Drawing on the wider empathy literature, we identify several additional ways empathy might counter affective polarization. We show that the resultant account has important implications for the sorts of empathetic engagement with cross-partisans that is likely to reduce polarization. Our aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the potential of different kinds of empathetic engagement to counter polarization as well as the limits of empathy as a response to polarization.
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Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Sharp, D., & Sodoma, K. (2023). Democratic Empathy and Affective Polarization. Social Philosophy Today, 39, 71-87. https://doi.org/10.5840/socphiltoday202368101
MLA:
Sharp, Daniel, and Katharina Sodoma. "Democratic Empathy and Affective Polarization." Social Philosophy Today 39 (2023): 71-87.
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