Empathy, Will and Responsibility : Clarifying the Contested Role of Empathy in Social Work Ethics
(2025) In Journal of Phenomenological Psychology 56(1-2). p.108-133- Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explore how Edmund Husserl's phenomenological account of empathy, as well as Emmanuel Levinas' critical reception of the same, could contribute with clarity to the debate over the relevance of empathy to social work ethics. I suggest that more attention should be given to the pre-reflective character of empathy, according to Husserl's account. This resonates with Levinas' point that the encounter with the other disrupts intentional experience and thus cannot be sought out as an ethical goal. Some literature on social work ethics as well as on the ethics of social justice education, has taken a critical stance towards the concept of empathy. I review three such cases in detail and try to show how the... (More)
The aim of this paper is to explore how Edmund Husserl's phenomenological account of empathy, as well as Emmanuel Levinas' critical reception of the same, could contribute with clarity to the debate over the relevance of empathy to social work ethics. I suggest that more attention should be given to the pre-reflective character of empathy, according to Husserl's account. This resonates with Levinas' point that the encounter with the other disrupts intentional experience and thus cannot be sought out as an ethical goal. Some literature on social work ethics as well as on the ethics of social justice education, has taken a critical stance towards the concept of empathy. I review three such cases in detail and try to show how the phenomenological accounts of empathy by Husserl and Levinas may contribute to clarifying the fundamental and non-ethical role of empathy in face-to-face social work practice.
(Less)
- author
- Eriksson, Karl LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-12-29
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- empathy, Husserl, Levinas, phenomenology, social work ethics
- in
- Journal of Phenomenological Psychology
- volume
- 56
- issue
- 1-2
- pages
- 26 pages
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105026693075
- ISSN
- 0047-2662
- DOI
- 10.1163/15691624-20255606
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Karl Eriksson. Published with license by Koninklijke Brill BV.
- id
- dcff3cda-f43a-4a6b-b1d1-b1f95bf79992
- date added to LUP
- 2026-02-10 14:31:26
- date last changed
- 2026-02-10 14:32:43
@article{dcff3cda-f43a-4a6b-b1d1-b1f95bf79992,
abstract = {{<p>The aim of this paper is to explore how Edmund Husserl's phenomenological account of empathy, as well as Emmanuel Levinas' critical reception of the same, could contribute with clarity to the debate over the relevance of empathy to social work ethics. I suggest that more attention should be given to the pre-reflective character of empathy, according to Husserl's account. This resonates with Levinas' point that the encounter with the other disrupts intentional experience and thus cannot be sought out as an ethical goal. Some literature on social work ethics as well as on the ethics of social justice education, has taken a critical stance towards the concept of empathy. I review three such cases in detail and try to show how the phenomenological accounts of empathy by Husserl and Levinas may contribute to clarifying the fundamental and non-ethical role of empathy in face-to-face social work practice.</p>}},
author = {{Eriksson, Karl}},
issn = {{0047-2662}},
keywords = {{empathy; Husserl; Levinas; phenomenology; social work ethics}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{12}},
number = {{1-2}},
pages = {{108--133}},
series = {{Journal of Phenomenological Psychology}},
title = {{Empathy, Will and Responsibility : Clarifying the Contested Role of Empathy in Social Work Ethics}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15691624-20255606}},
doi = {{10.1163/15691624-20255606}},
volume = {{56}},
year = {{2025}},
}