empathy isnt what makes you a good person, and relying solely on empathy as the basis of your moral code will inevitably dehumanize somebody and then where are you
I think empathy in the immediate, emotional sense, is secondary to something you might call global empathy, or compassion. I think the basis of any moral code should be that we are beholden to each other and that our actions should work towards the long term goal of making a better world for everyone. I don’t need a personal, empathetic connection to someone to understand that they deserve to live and thrive
conflating empathy (an instinctive emotional reaction) with altruism (a conscious decision in interaction) demonizes people with aspd & npd and many people with bpd, szpd, dpd and other dissociative disorders, autism, and schizophrenia.
when you refer to ethical, altruistic, or kind actions as “empathic”, whether you intend to or not, what you’re doing is continuing to promote popular belief that because we don’t interact with the world the same way most people do, because we don’t have empathy, we’re unable to be anything but selfish.
so, please, don’t.
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