Actually, no. I meant sympathy. I have quite the grasp on the English language, and often those that recommend words to me lack that very grasp.
Usually empathy goes beyond sympathy in the form of a shared common experience. I sympathize with a woman who has her child murdered but I cannot empathize.
"The most often quoted article on empathy comes from physician Howard Spiro. He defines empathy this way:
Empathy is the feeling that persons or objects arouse in us as projections of our feelings and thoughts. It is evident when "I and you" becomes "I am you," or at least "I might be you."
Lawyers often use this technique every time a murderer kills someone. They play to people's emotions and try to reason through it. "Johnny had a rough childhood and was molested so that is why he grew to hate authority figures and killed these middle aged women."
And of course there are plenty of people that connect with klansmen and reason through the fact that they don't like Blacks; they are labeled racists.
-Rudey
Quote:
Originally posted by jubilance1922
sym·pa·thy
n. pl. sym·pa·thies
-A relationship or an affinity between people or things in which whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other.
-Mutual understanding or affection arising from this relationship or affinity.
-The act or power of sharing the feelings of another.
-A feeling or an expression of pity or sorrow for the distress of another; compassion or commiseration. Often used in the plural.
-Harmonious agreement; accord: He is in sympathy with their beliefs.
-A feeling of loyalty; allegiance. Often used in the plural: His sympathies lie with his family.
-Physiology. A relation between parts or organs by which a disease or disorder in one induces an effect in the other.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
I don't think anyone here was giving excuses or justifying the act. I think you are reading too much into this.
And I'm sure there are lots of people in the world that can relate to the frustrations of a Klansman. Its not the same as excusing the behavior.
BTW, the word you were looking for is empathy
em·pa·thy n.
-Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives.
-The attribution of one's own feelings to an object.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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