Pity, Sympathy, and Empathy are similar forces that move us to compassion, but they are not the same and have their own unique characteristics. In the medical profession these elements are tied to bedside manner and in philosophy they can often be viewed as a part of ethics. Let us look briefly at the distinction:
Pity is a compassionate action that always contains an element of superiority. It is often spontaneous and isolated. An example of this as a person giving money or food to a homeless person, even if overall they find homeless people to be an annoyance or a burden. Pity doesn't make one a bad person by any means, but it is the least lasting and involved of the three and most likely the least one a person would not want in their physician or policy makers.
Sympathy is an intellectual understanding of a situation. If we continue with our example, someone who is sympathetic the the homeless would have a good understanding of the economic, racial, and mental health issues behind homelessness. This may lead to the person seeking to enact policy or social movements to try to change those factors.
Empathy is an emotional understanding of another person's plight. This may stem from what is termed 'emotional intelligence' or from personal experience. Someone who has been homeless, had a homeless relative, or lives on such a tight budget that they are always one financial emergency from being homeless themselves, for instance, would have a much better emotional understanding of the homeless. This is generally considered the most connected form of compassion, and thus probably the most sought after bedside manner.
It is worth noting however that one of the writers of the Hippocratic Corpus wrote that it was the physician who was most worthy of pity.
Of course, the lowest rung would be occupied by those who have none of these qualities but instead exploit these qualities in others. People who form non-profits or businesses which express the aim of helping a need group that tends to generate these motivators in people (homeless, veterans, the terminally ill, etc) but are really just looking to make a profit off of the situation.
Pity is a compassionate action that always contains an element of superiority. It is often spontaneous and isolated. An example of this as a person giving money or food to a homeless person, even if overall they find homeless people to be an annoyance or a burden. Pity doesn't make one a bad person by any means, but it is the least lasting and involved of the three and most likely the least one a person would not want in their physician or policy makers.
Sympathy is an intellectual understanding of a situation. If we continue with our example, someone who is sympathetic the the homeless would have a good understanding of the economic, racial, and mental health issues behind homelessness. This may lead to the person seeking to enact policy or social movements to try to change those factors.
Empathy is an emotional understanding of another person's plight. This may stem from what is termed 'emotional intelligence' or from personal experience. Someone who has been homeless, had a homeless relative, or lives on such a tight budget that they are always one financial emergency from being homeless themselves, for instance, would have a much better emotional understanding of the homeless. This is generally considered the most connected form of compassion, and thus probably the most sought after bedside manner.
It is worth noting however that one of the writers of the Hippocratic Corpus wrote that it was the physician who was most worthy of pity.
Of course, the lowest rung would be occupied by those who have none of these qualities but instead exploit these qualities in others. People who form non-profits or businesses which express the aim of helping a need group that tends to generate these motivators in people (homeless, veterans, the terminally ill, etc) but are really just looking to make a profit off of the situation.
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