Antti Kauppinen University of Tampere
Academy of Finland Final draft,
January 5, 2017
"Let’s suppose that it is possible for us to come to know by empathy what other people are thinking and feeling, where empathy is some kind of direct perception of what goes on in their minds that isn’t based on inference of any kind. Given that the thoughts of other people, in turn, may reveal further facts about them and the external world, empathy may be a way of coming to know non-psychological facts as well.
This informational role of empathy is the main focus of Michael Slote’s ‘The Many Faces of Empathy’. Slote argues that empathy is a way of acquiring knowledge of the world and moral facts, and is essential to the transmission of knowledge by testimony."