Taking empathy online

Bibliographic Data

ID21335151
AuthorsLucy Osler (0000-0002-6347-8381, Department of Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume67
Issue1
Pages302-329
Publication date2024-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInquiry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-174X • E-ISSN: 1502-3923
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0020174x.2021.1899045
OpenAlexW3137373100
LanguageEN
Citations received33
References cited35

Despite its long history of investigating sociality, phenomenology has, to date, said little about online sociality. The phenomenological tradition typically claims that empathy is the fundamental way in which we experience others and their experiences. While empathy is discussed almost exclusively in the context of face-to-face interaction, I claim that we can empathetically perceive others and their experiences in certain online situations. Drawing upon the phenomenological distinction between the physical, objective body and the expressive, lived body, I: (i) highlight that empathy involves perceiving the other’s expressive, lived body, (ii) show that the lived body is not tied to the physical body and that empathy can take place outside of face-to-face interactions, and (iii) argue that the lived body can enter online space and is empathetically available to others there. I explore two ways in which the other’s lived body enters online space and can be empathetically perceived: first, in cases where our face-to-face encounter is technologically-mediated over video link and, second, by showing how the other’s texts, as speech, can form part of the other’s lived body. Investigating empathy online not only furthers our understanding of online encounters but also leads to a refined conception of empathy more generally

Aesthetics · Art · Context (archaeology) · Empathy · Epistemology · Face (sociological concept) · Face-to-face · Phenomenology (philosophy) · Sociality · Sociology · Digital Games and Media · Gender, Feminism, and Media · History · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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