The Music of Intersubjective Interaction: Distinguishing Basic and Higher- Order Empathies
Abstract
This chapter starts by briefly mapping out some debates about empathy, including the distinction between basic and higher-order empathy, and various approaches, including simulation, phenomenology, and hermeneutics, that address the distinction. I then suggest that Colwyn Trevarthen’s work on intersubjective interaction, which he characterizes as involving sympathy (an older term than empathy), provides an alternative view of basic empathy, and some important insights that can inform these debates. I conclude by highlighting a question about the role that narrative plays in Trevarthen’s account. I suggest that there is a continuity between basic and higher-order empathy based not on narrative, but on the continuing role of primary intersubjectivity—the music of intersubjective relations—that extends throughout the life span.
Publication Title
Intersubjective Minds Rhythm Sympathy and Human Being
Recommended Citation
Gallagher, S. (2025). The Music of Intersubjective Interaction: Distinguishing Basic and Higher- Order Empathies. Intersubjective Minds Rhythm Sympathy and Human Being, 244-260. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192865373.003.0014
