Empathy

“[A] path-breaking book. . . . It is a pleasure to read because it tells stories: stories of people (scientists mostly, but also political activists and social workers) and how they connected to institutions, stories of how they approached empathy in both practical and theoretical terms and in various fields.”—Ute Frevert, Journal of Modern History

Winner of the 2020 Cheiron Book Prize, sponsored by The International Society for the History of Behavioral and Social Sciences

“Susan Lanzoni reveals the little-known roots and reach of ‘empathy,’ particularly its richness as a lens on the arts. An eye-opener for anyone with an interest in empathy, particularly those in the behavioral and brain sciences, whose understanding of the concept will be expanded in astonishing ways.”—Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence

“Highly impressive. . . . This lucid and generously case-based book gave me a distinctly different understanding of empathy and its role in scientific explorations, like emotion theory and neuron research, as well as in everyday social relations.”—Jill Morawski, Wesleyan University

“This remarkable study of empathy, a crucial but much misunderstood concept and experience, is encyclopedic in its inclusion of aesthetic, historical, psychological, and social sources. Readers will be enriched by Lanzoni’s breadth and clarity.”—Robert Jay Lifton, author of The Climate Swerve: Reflections on Mind, Hope, and Survival

“Susan Lanzoni’s dive into the history and use of empathy—in aesthetics, ethics, politics and now neurobiology—has produced a book that is both deep and wide. Few concepts have exerted such power. This is a crucial study, now more than ever.”—Peter Galison, Harvard University