Research Article
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Empathy and Human Rights

Year 2023, Volume: 28 Issue: 4, 443 - 454, 31.10.2023

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate whether empathy plays a role in developing and securing human rights. In other words, can the concept of empathy be a guide in seeing points that may be dangerous for human rights, both in theory and in practice, and at the same time in intervening in these violations? Is empathy a prerequisite for this? For example, does being against inhumane treatments such as torture, discrimination, and genocide that others are subjected to depend on that person's ability to empathize both in thought and in practice? Or can one reach the epistemic basis of basic human rights and freedoms independently of empathic feelings? This study briefly aims to find answers to these questions. In this context, the basis of the study is based on qualitative research methods. Empathic emotion can pave the way for humanitarian aid by providing individual feelings such as immediate intervention, helping, and solidarity in emergencies that may occur after some natural disasters or some human rights violations. However, the view defended in the study is that the idea of human rights cannot be reduced to emotions such as empathy.

References

  • Albiero, P., Matricardi, G., Speltri, D., & Toso, D. (2009). The assessment of empathy in adolescence: A contribution to the Italian validation of the Basic Empathy Scale. Journal of Adolescence, 32(2), 393-408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.01.001
  • Barnett, G., & Mann, R. E. (2013). Empathy deficits and sexual offending: A model of obstacles to empathy. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18(2), 228-239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2012.11.010
  • Baron-Cohen, S., & Wheelwright, S. (2004). The empathy quotient: An investigation of adults with asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, and normal sex differences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(2), 163-175. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:jadd.0000022607.198
  • Batson, C. D., Duncan, B. D., Ackerman, P., Buckley, T., & Birch, K. (1981). Is empathic emotion a source of altruistic motivation?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40(2), 290-302. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.40.2.290
  • Batson, C. D., Fultz, J., & Schoenrade, P. A. (1987). Distress and empathy: Two qualitatively distinct vicarious emotions with different motivational consequences. Journal of Personality, 55(1), 19-39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00426.x
  • Batson, C. D., Klein, T. R., Highberger, L., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Immorality from empathy-induced altruism: When compassion and justice conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(6), 1042-1054. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.6.1042
  • Bloom, P. (2016). Against empathy. Bodley Head.
  • Colman, A. M. (2009). A Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford University Press. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199534067.001.0001/acref-9780199534067-e-2731?rskey=aWvvek&result=2823
  • Cuff, B. M. P., Brown, S. J., Taylor, L., & Howat, D. J. (2014). Empathy: A review of the concept. Emotion Review, 8(2). 144-153. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073914558466
  • Cumper, P., & Lewis, T. (2018). Empathy and human rights: The case of religious dress. Human Rights Law Review, 18(1), 61-87. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngx046
  • Decety, J., & Cowell, J. M. (2015). Empathy, justice, and moral behavior. AJOB Neuroscience, 6(3). 3-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2015.1047055
  • Decety, J., & Lamm, C. (2006). Human empathy through the lens of social neuroscience. The Scientific World Journal, 6, 1146-1163. https://doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2006.221
  • Dymond, R. F. (1949). A scale for the measurement of empathic ability. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 13(2). 127-133. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0061728
  • Gibson, J. (2015). Empathy. In N. Carroll and J. Gibson (Ed.). The routledge companion to philosophy of literature (p. 234-246). Routledge.
  • Goldman, A. I. (1993). Ethics and cognitive science. Ethics, 103(2). 337-360. https://doi.org/10.1086/293500
  • Han, S. (2018). Neurocognitive basis of racial ingroup bias in empathy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(5), 400-421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.02.013
  • Hapla, M. (2017). Taking stories seriously: Richard Rorty and human rights. The Argumentation: International Conference on Alternative Methods of Argumentation in Law, 39-51.
  • Have Ten, H., & Gordij, B. (2016). Empathy and violence. Med Health Care and Philos, 19, 499-500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-016-9730-5
  • Hoffman, M. L. (1990). Empathy and justice motivation. Motivation and Emotion, 14(2). 151-172. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00991641
  • Hogan, R. (1969). Development of an empathy scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 33(3), 307-316. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0027580 
  • Hunt, L. (2007). Inventing human rights: A history. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
  • Johnson, J. D., Simmons, C. H., Jordav, A., Maclean, L., Taddei, J., Thomas, D., Dovidio, J. F., & Reed, W. (2002). Rodney King and O. J. revisited: The impact of race and defendant empathy induction on judicial decisions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 1208-1223. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb01432.x
  • Kant, I. (2009). Ahlâk metafiziğinin temellendirilmesi. (İoanna Kuçuradi, Çev.), Türkiye Felsefe Kurumu.
  • Krause, S. R. (2010). Empathy, democratic politics, and the impartial juror. Law, Culture and the Humanities, 7(1), 81-100. https://doi.org/10.1177/1743872109355567
  • Krznaric, R. (2015). Empathy: Why it matters and how to get it. Penguin Group.
  • Marshall, W. L., Hudson, S. M., Jones, R., & Fernandez, Y. M. (1995). Empathy in sex offenders. Clinical Psychology Review, 15(2). 99-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7358(95)00002-7
  • Montag, C., Gallinat, J., & Heinz, A. (2008). Theodor Lipps and the concept of empathy: 1851-1914. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(10). 1261-1261. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07081283
  • Oliveira-Silva, P., & Gonçalves, Ó. F. (2011). Responding empathically: A question of heart, not a question of skin. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 36(3). 201-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-011-9161-2
  • Pavey, L., Greitemeyer, T., & Sparks, P. (2012). I help because ı want to, not because you tell me to. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(5). 681-689. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211435940
  • Persson, I., & Savulescu, J. (2017). The moral importance of reflective empathy. Neuroethics, 11(2). 183-193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-017-9350-7
  • Phongpetra, P. (2011). The duality of empathy and human rights. The Trinity Papers. https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/trinitypapers/113
  • Prinz, J. (2011). Against empathy. The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 49, 214-233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-6962.2011.00069.x
  • Rogers, C. R. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality, and interpersonal relationships: As developed in the client-centered framework. In S. Koch (Ed.), Psychology: A Study of a Science. Formulations of the Person and the Social Context (Vol. 3, pp. 184-256). McGraw Hill.
  • Sajo, A. (2006). Constitutional sentiments. Acta Juridica Hungarica, 47(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1556/ajur.47.2006.1.1
  • Sajo, A. (2011). Empathy and human rights: The case of slavery. Constitutional Sentiments, Yale University Press, NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 11-15. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1769787
  • Santos, F. G. (2020). Social movements and the politics of care: Empathy, solidarity, and eviction blockades. Social Movement Studies, 19(2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2019.1665504
  • Schultz, N. (2013). Empathy as the key to equality and human rights: An investigation of emphatys role in inter-group relations and discrimination. Global Campus Open Knowledge Repository. https://doi.org/20.500.11825/643
  • Singer, T., & Steinbeis, N. (2009). Differential roles of fairness- and compassion-based motivations for cooperation, defection, and punishment. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1167(1). 41-50. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04733.x
  • Slote, M. A. (2010). Moral sentimentalism. Oxford University Press.
  • Tarrant, M., Branscombe, N. R., Warner, R. H., & Weston, D. (2012). Social identity and perceptions of torture: It’s moral when we do it. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(2). 513-518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.10.017
  • Wispé, L. (1986). The distinction between sympathy and empathy: to call forth a concept, a word is needed. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(2). 314-321. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.2.314
  • Xu, X., Zuo, X., Wang, X., & Han, S. (2009). Do you feel my pain? Racial group membership modulates empathic neural responses. Journal of Neuroscience, 29(26). 8525-8529. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2418-09.2009

Empati ve İnsan Hakları

Year 2023, Volume: 28 Issue: 4, 443 - 454, 31.10.2023

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı empatinin insan haklarının geliştirilmesinde ve güvence altına alınmasında bir rol oynayıp oynamadığını değerlendirmektir. Başka bir deyişle, empati kavramı hem teoride hem de pratikte insan hakları açısından tehlikeli olabilecek noktaları görmede ve bu ihlallere müdahale etmede yol gösterici olabilir mi? Empati bunun için bir ön koşul mudur? Örneğin başkalarının maruz kaldığı işkence, ayrımcılık, soykırım gibi insanlık dışı muamelelere karşı çıkmak, o kişinin hem düşüncede hem de uygulamada empati yeteneğine sahip olmasına mı bağlıdır? Yoksa temel insan hak ve özgürlüklerinin epistemik temellerine empatik duygulardan bağımsız olarak ulaşılabilir mi? Bu çalışma kısaca bu sorulara cevap bulmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu bağlamda çalışmanın temeli nitel araştırma yöntemlerine dayanmaktadır. Empatik duygu, bazı doğal afetler ya da bazı insan hakları ihlalleri sonrasında oluşabilecek acil durumlarda anında müdahale, yardım etme, dayanışma gibi bireysel duyguların ortaya çıkmasını sağlayarak insani yardımın önünü açabilir. Ancak çalışmada savunulan görüş, insan hakları düşüncesinin empati gibi duygulara indirgenemeyeceği yönündedir.

Ethical Statement

Makale kendime ait çalışmadır, hiçbir şekilde intihal yapmadığımı, intihalden kaynaklanan tüm sorumluluğun bana ait olduğunu ve bu konuda derginin hiçbir sorumluluğunun olmadığını beyan ederim.

Supporting Institution

Yok

Thanks

Yok

References

  • Albiero, P., Matricardi, G., Speltri, D., & Toso, D. (2009). The assessment of empathy in adolescence: A contribution to the Italian validation of the Basic Empathy Scale. Journal of Adolescence, 32(2), 393-408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.01.001
  • Barnett, G., & Mann, R. E. (2013). Empathy deficits and sexual offending: A model of obstacles to empathy. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18(2), 228-239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2012.11.010
  • Baron-Cohen, S., & Wheelwright, S. (2004). The empathy quotient: An investigation of adults with asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, and normal sex differences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(2), 163-175. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:jadd.0000022607.198
  • Batson, C. D., Duncan, B. D., Ackerman, P., Buckley, T., & Birch, K. (1981). Is empathic emotion a source of altruistic motivation?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40(2), 290-302. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.40.2.290
  • Batson, C. D., Fultz, J., & Schoenrade, P. A. (1987). Distress and empathy: Two qualitatively distinct vicarious emotions with different motivational consequences. Journal of Personality, 55(1), 19-39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00426.x
  • Batson, C. D., Klein, T. R., Highberger, L., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Immorality from empathy-induced altruism: When compassion and justice conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(6), 1042-1054. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.6.1042
  • Bloom, P. (2016). Against empathy. Bodley Head.
  • Colman, A. M. (2009). A Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford University Press. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199534067.001.0001/acref-9780199534067-e-2731?rskey=aWvvek&result=2823
  • Cuff, B. M. P., Brown, S. J., Taylor, L., & Howat, D. J. (2014). Empathy: A review of the concept. Emotion Review, 8(2). 144-153. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073914558466
  • Cumper, P., & Lewis, T. (2018). Empathy and human rights: The case of religious dress. Human Rights Law Review, 18(1), 61-87. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngx046
  • Decety, J., & Cowell, J. M. (2015). Empathy, justice, and moral behavior. AJOB Neuroscience, 6(3). 3-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2015.1047055
  • Decety, J., & Lamm, C. (2006). Human empathy through the lens of social neuroscience. The Scientific World Journal, 6, 1146-1163. https://doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2006.221
  • Dymond, R. F. (1949). A scale for the measurement of empathic ability. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 13(2). 127-133. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0061728
  • Gibson, J. (2015). Empathy. In N. Carroll and J. Gibson (Ed.). The routledge companion to philosophy of literature (p. 234-246). Routledge.
  • Goldman, A. I. (1993). Ethics and cognitive science. Ethics, 103(2). 337-360. https://doi.org/10.1086/293500
  • Han, S. (2018). Neurocognitive basis of racial ingroup bias in empathy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(5), 400-421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.02.013
  • Hapla, M. (2017). Taking stories seriously: Richard Rorty and human rights. The Argumentation: International Conference on Alternative Methods of Argumentation in Law, 39-51.
  • Have Ten, H., & Gordij, B. (2016). Empathy and violence. Med Health Care and Philos, 19, 499-500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-016-9730-5
  • Hoffman, M. L. (1990). Empathy and justice motivation. Motivation and Emotion, 14(2). 151-172. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00991641
  • Hogan, R. (1969). Development of an empathy scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 33(3), 307-316. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0027580 
  • Hunt, L. (2007). Inventing human rights: A history. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
  • Johnson, J. D., Simmons, C. H., Jordav, A., Maclean, L., Taddei, J., Thomas, D., Dovidio, J. F., & Reed, W. (2002). Rodney King and O. J. revisited: The impact of race and defendant empathy induction on judicial decisions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 1208-1223. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb01432.x
  • Kant, I. (2009). Ahlâk metafiziğinin temellendirilmesi. (İoanna Kuçuradi, Çev.), Türkiye Felsefe Kurumu.
  • Krause, S. R. (2010). Empathy, democratic politics, and the impartial juror. Law, Culture and the Humanities, 7(1), 81-100. https://doi.org/10.1177/1743872109355567
  • Krznaric, R. (2015). Empathy: Why it matters and how to get it. Penguin Group.
  • Marshall, W. L., Hudson, S. M., Jones, R., & Fernandez, Y. M. (1995). Empathy in sex offenders. Clinical Psychology Review, 15(2). 99-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7358(95)00002-7
  • Montag, C., Gallinat, J., & Heinz, A. (2008). Theodor Lipps and the concept of empathy: 1851-1914. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(10). 1261-1261. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07081283
  • Oliveira-Silva, P., & Gonçalves, Ó. F. (2011). Responding empathically: A question of heart, not a question of skin. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 36(3). 201-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-011-9161-2
  • Pavey, L., Greitemeyer, T., & Sparks, P. (2012). I help because ı want to, not because you tell me to. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(5). 681-689. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211435940
  • Persson, I., & Savulescu, J. (2017). The moral importance of reflective empathy. Neuroethics, 11(2). 183-193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12152-017-9350-7
  • Phongpetra, P. (2011). The duality of empathy and human rights. The Trinity Papers. https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/trinitypapers/113
  • Prinz, J. (2011). Against empathy. The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 49, 214-233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-6962.2011.00069.x
  • Rogers, C. R. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality, and interpersonal relationships: As developed in the client-centered framework. In S. Koch (Ed.), Psychology: A Study of a Science. Formulations of the Person and the Social Context (Vol. 3, pp. 184-256). McGraw Hill.
  • Sajo, A. (2006). Constitutional sentiments. Acta Juridica Hungarica, 47(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1556/ajur.47.2006.1.1
  • Sajo, A. (2011). Empathy and human rights: The case of slavery. Constitutional Sentiments, Yale University Press, NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 11-15. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1769787
  • Santos, F. G. (2020). Social movements and the politics of care: Empathy, solidarity, and eviction blockades. Social Movement Studies, 19(2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2019.1665504
  • Schultz, N. (2013). Empathy as the key to equality and human rights: An investigation of emphatys role in inter-group relations and discrimination. Global Campus Open Knowledge Repository. https://doi.org/20.500.11825/643
  • Singer, T., & Steinbeis, N. (2009). Differential roles of fairness- and compassion-based motivations for cooperation, defection, and punishment. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1167(1). 41-50. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04733.x
  • Slote, M. A. (2010). Moral sentimentalism. Oxford University Press.
  • Tarrant, M., Branscombe, N. R., Warner, R. H., & Weston, D. (2012). Social identity and perceptions of torture: It’s moral when we do it. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(2). 513-518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.10.017
  • Wispé, L. (1986). The distinction between sympathy and empathy: to call forth a concept, a word is needed. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(2). 314-321. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.2.314
  • Xu, X., Zuo, X., Wang, X., & Han, S. (2009). Do you feel my pain? Racial group membership modulates empathic neural responses. Journal of Neuroscience, 29(26). 8525-8529. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2418-09.2009
There are 42 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Public Administration
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Yunus Düger 0000-0003-3077-6793

Publication Date October 31, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 28 Issue: 4

Cite

APA Düger, Y. (2023). Empati ve İnsan Hakları. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi İktisadi Ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 28(4), 443-454.