• 1 Introduction
• 2 Is Empathy Necessary for Moral Judgment?
• 3 Is Empathy Necessary for Moral Development?
• 4 Is Empathy Necessary for Moral Conduct?
• 5 Should we Cultivate An Empathy Based Morality?

The following are extracts from the paper “Is Empathy Necessary For Morality?” (philpapers) by Jesse Prinz (WP) of CUNY; recently linked in a David Brooks New York Times column, “The Limits of Empathy”:

1 Introduction

Not only is there little evidence for the claim that empathy is necessary, there is also reason to think empathy can interfere with the ends of morality. A capacity for empathy might make us better people, but placing empathy at the center of our moral lives may be ill‐advised. That is not to say that morality shouldn’t centrally involve emotions. I think emotions are essential for moral judgment and moral motivation (Prinz, 2007)¹. It’s just that empathetic emotions are not ideally suited for these jobs.