Very Bad Wizards

Episode 24: The Perils of Empathy (with Paul Bloom)

Jun 10, 2013
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Limits of Empathy in Morality

  • Empathy is a natural moral motivator but is limited and can mislead in global or policy decisions.
  • Reason and broader moral principles must guide beyond local, parochial empathetic responses.
INSIGHT

Empathy Can Lead To Injustice

  • Empathy can fuel harmful moral responses like excessive punishment due to victim-focused outrage.
  • This explains harsh systems like mass incarceration driven by empathy skewed toward victims.
INSIGHT

Empathy Works Locally, Fails Globally

  • Empathy is necessary for intimate relationships and law, but it fails in global policymaking requiring impartiality.
  • Over-reliance leads to biased decision-making favoring proximate or salient victims.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app