Three criteria are front and center in selecting a psychotherapist: empathy, schedule, and cost. I might say “empathy, empathy, and empathy,” but cost and schedule are important too. Absent a warm empathic, gracious and generous listening, many people find that psychotherapy is indistinguishable from going to the dentist – i.e., painful. When delivered in a context of empathy, psychotherapy can make a difference in getting unstuck, eliminating or reducing emotional upset, and expanding possibilities for personal growth. My commitment is to deliver empathy.
Hermeneutics
Theory of interpretation
Empathy in the Context of Philosophy Reviewed by Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray
Review – Empathy in the Context of Philosophy by Lou Agosta Palgrave Macmillan, 2010 Review by Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray Jan 31st 2012 (Volume 16, Issue 5) With Empathy in the Context of Philosophy, Lou Agosta seeks to make a philosophical contribution to… Read More ›
Heidegger’s Special Hermeneutic of Empathy in Being and Time…the Movie
This educational video includes a presentation by Lou Agosta on Heidegger’s call for a special hermeneutic of empathy in Heidegger’s book Being and Time. The different aspects of such a Heideggerian inquiry into and definition of empathy are spelled out… Read More ›
Live from the Humanistic Psychology Conference (Div 32)! A Heideggerian Approach to Empathy
This is the presentation in PowerPoint (PPT) format on Heidegger’s Special Hermeneutic of Empathy here: SHPAgostaEmpathy20101214 [click to download] as delivered at the Conference on Humanistic Psychology (Chicago) sponsored by the Chicago School of Professional psychology… According to Heidegger (Being… Read More ›
Empathy in Context …
I am humbled by the comments of my colleagues, friends, and associates on Empathy in the Context of Philosophy. “An insightful and provocative exploration of a topic that has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves and the… Read More ›
Heidegger on the Emotions in the Rhetoric of Aristotle
In BEING AND TIME, Heidegger famously notes that the analysis of the affects (pathe) has taken barely one step forward since book II of Aristotle’s RHETORIC (H139). This Hot Link is an essay on this subject published in Philosophy Today… Read More ›
The Recovery of Empathy in a Folktale
A wonderful example of empathy and its absence is documented in one of the fairy tales (Märchen) of the collection edited by the Grimm Brothers. “The Story of the Youth Who Set Out to Learn Fear” is about a youth… Read More ›
Intersecting Conversations in Philosophy and Psychoanalysis
The therapeutic dimension of philosophy attempts to give the ultimate philosophic question – those of freedom, God, and immortality – a proper place in thinking. They lie at the limits of conceptual intelligibility. Borrowing a phrase from Karl Jaspers –… Read More ›
Kant’s Treasure Hard-to-Attain: Why Kant Scholars are Engaged by Folktales
In the Anthropology (1797: §16; 33; 154), Kant calls out “The thrill that comes over us at the mere idea of the sublime and the gooseflesh [grüseln] with which fairy tales put children to bed late at night are vital… Read More ›
Engaging Heidegger’s Special Hermeneutic of Empathy for Self Psychology – the presentation
This is a presentation engaging Heidegger’s Special Hermeneutic of Empathy from the perspective of Heinz Kohut’s Self Pscyhology. A shortened version of this is scheduled to be delivered at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis on Wednesday Feb 24th at 1:30… Read More ›