The Ontological Foundations of Herderâs Concept of Sympathy

Nigel DeSouza

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Chapter 1 The Ontological Foundations of Herderâs Concept of Sympathy

In: Herder on Empathy and Sympathy

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Nigel DeSouza

Nigel DeSouza
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 37â49

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004426870_003

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Abstract

This chapter traces the ontological foundations of Herderâs concept of sympathy to his concept of force (Kraft). The origin of all forces is God, whose one dynamic thought unfolds itself in a universe characterized by, among others, the material forces of attraction and repulsion, the living forces of expansion and contraction, and the soul-force that is both thought-force and principle of life. The soul builds itself a body by harnessing the forces of attraction and repulsion in matter, a process which the soul is able to recollect through its fundamental sense of touch, which bridges the material/immaterial realms, and is the basis of its self-feeling (SelbstgefÃ¼hl), which originates in the physiological/phenomenological phenomenon of irritation. This sympathy with oneself extends to a genuine sympathy (MitgefÃ¼hl) with the rest of nature and other beings on the basis of the shared ontology of forces and capacities for feeling, which human beings share most with their fellow human beings. MitgefÃ¼hl is the pregnantly normative feeling that is the true foundation of all mores and moral norms/rules into which it must be refined upwards in order to be effective. The capacity for âfeeling oneself into natureâ is repeated at the cultural level, permitting us to sympathize with other cultures, both contemporary and historical.

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Herder on Empathy and Sympathy

EinfÃ¼hlung und Sympathie im Denken Herders

Series:Â Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, Volume: 311

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004426870

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 21 Apr 2020

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Chapter 1 The Ontological Foundations of Herderâs Concept of Sympathy

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Herder on Empathy and Sympathy

EinfÃ¼hlung und Sympathie im Denken Herders

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Chapter 1 The Ontological Foundations of Herderâs Concept of Sympathy