Publication Details

Abstract

Contrary to concerns that grounding ethics in empathy fails to account for normative ideals like autonomy, respect, and universal equality, a viable path towards an empathetic ethic advancing those values is presented. In the first step, the normative entailments of dialogic interpretation are articulated and correlated with Kantian ideals to define the goalposts. Avoiding metaphysical or transcendental groundings, we then sketch the profile of a hermeneutic phenomenology revealing basic and morally impactful phenomena as normative sources. Finally, the conception of a dialogic self can be shown to entail the cognitive potential to rightly respond to such phenomena. Empathetic capabilities entail a set of normative ideals expressing the rich value-orientations of a culturally sensitive yet universalistic concept of moral agency.