Empathy and the Aesthetic Mind

Katerina Bantinaki is Assistant Professor of Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art at the University of Crete, Greece.Efi Kyprianidou is Assistant Professor in Aesthetics, Philosophy and Theory of Arts at Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus.Fotini Vassiliou is Assistant Professor in Phenomenology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.

• Introduction K. Bantinaki, E. Kyprianidou and F. Vassiliou1. What Is Aesthetic Empathy and How Does it Work? A Historic–Systematic Approach Thomas PetraschkaPart I. Empathy with Fictional Others: Challenges and Complexities2. Imagining Empathy for Fictional Characters Jonathan Gilmore3. Imaginative Freedom and Epistemic Constraints in the Context of Literary Text Julia Langkau4. Videogames as Vehicles for Empathetic Perspective-Shifting: Imagining Psychosis in Hellblade Christopher Bartel5. Authentic Performance and Empathy Maria José Alcaraz LeónPart II. Empathy and Aesthetic Cognitivism6. Empathy, Imagination, and the Epistemic Value of Fiction Amy Kind7. Affective Empathy and Imagined Emotion in Literary Fiction Cain Todd8. Empathic Imaginings and ‘Knowledge of What it Is Like’ in Aesthetic Cognitivism Íngrid Vendrell FerranPart III. Empathy and the Moral Stance9. The Rhetoric of Empathy in Narrative Film Carl Plantinga 10. Stepping Into Ill-Fitting Shoes: The Rewards and Perils of Empathy for Rough Heroes Panos Paris 11. Cheap Empathy: Sam Lipsyte’s The Ask Tzachi Zamir Part IV. Beyond Fiction: Empathy in the Experience of Music and Architecture12. The Role of Empathy in Musical Experience and Understanding Joel Smith13. The Social Dimension of Music Listening: Empathy and the Experience of Feeling Moved Jonna Vuoskoski14. Varieties of Empathy in Architecture Anne Tüscher15. From Feeling Into to Feeling With: Rhythm, Resonance and Response Sarah RobinsonIndex

By bringing together some of the best thinkers in philosophical aesthetics, this volume offers a valuable pluralistic understanding of the value of empathy across a diverse range of artforms from literature to videogames to music to architecture. An important read for anyone grappling with issues of perspective-taking, character engagement or the imagination.