Working on the concept of Dynamic Unity, I have formulated the fundamental principle of Empathy. I believe it is compatible with Stoic philosophy and value your opinions and comments on this subject. For the full draft document it can be found at dynamicunity.org/principles, Im not entirely happy with the wording on some points and your comments on what doesnt make sense or is unclear or unjustified are extremely welcome! Apologies for the length of the post, but it is currently as brief as it can be! 3. The Fundamental Principle of Empathy 3.1 Integrity is the foundation concept of empathy i.e stability, honesty and consistency (balance) are the concepts upon which empathy builds. Being honest and consistent in thought, word and deed relative to oneself, other systems and ones surroundings is a precursor to increased empathy. 3.2 Empathy is defined as the capability of mind to observe anothers experience and feel from the perspective of another. 3.3 All experiential systems with integrity are: Observable relative to other systems. Sensitive to other systems; that is that each system is capable of responding to other systems on interaction (the act of being observed). Conscious i.e the system has a degree of awareness; that is, capable of observing and sensitizing to internal and external systems relatively, which allows for the perception experience subjectively. 3.4 The conceptual system of the mind is the process through which the aspects observation, sensitivity and consciousness are cogitated and interpreted into thoughts and emotions. 3.5 All systems that can be experienced follow logical progression. Logic is the foundation of the processing of experience into coherent meaning as thought and is the basis of reason and rationality. Objectively, logic is the expression of the absolute truth; that all systems have integrity. 3.6 All systems that are experienced relatively produce emotional response which is the foundation of feelings. Objectively, emotions are the expression of the absolute truth; that all consistent systems follow fundamental principles. Emotions are felt in response to degrees of adherence to the fundamental principles; that is, positive emotional response is felt when on action, reaction or interaction, systems adhere to the fundamental principles, and vice versa. 3.7 In relation to the subjective experience, logical thought and emotional response is based on interpreted percieved experiences by the mind. 3.8 All conceptual systems of mind that express logic and emotions are experientially sentient which is defined as capable of feeling and experiencing systems subjectively. 3.9 Conceptually, sentience allows the system of mind the sense of self and to respond to experience subjectively through the expression of willpower relative to the integrity of the system. Objectively, will is the drive of a dynamic unified reality, it is the adherence to the absolute truth that all systems are one integral dynamic whole which follows fundamental principles. The subjective experience of sentience, the experience of self, allows will to be expressed as choice i.e. freedom/freewill and can guide logical thought and emotions; freewill is the expression of the subjective mind which can respond and perform action over internal and interacting external systems experience as a system chooses. 3.10 In relation to the experience of self, choices in thought can guide emotion and choices in emotion can guide thought. Choosing balance in thought and emotion allows for willing higher empathic response, by increasing the integrity of the system. If logical thought exceeds over emotion, or vise versa, a system either lacks empathy towards a more logical or emotional state e.g. one over-thinks things or one behaves irrationally and is emotionally driven. 3.11 In relation to the subjective mind i.e sentience, the sense of self; logical thought, emotion and freewill; these concepts allow for a system to observe onesself and interacting systems, which gives the ability to respond by that systems choices determined by the mind. Responsibility is the expression of this concept, which means that a systems actions and responses to experience, be they based on logic or emotion, are caused by the choices of that system, therefore that system is responsible for its actions and responses. A system with integrity is responsible for its own actions and responses and whilst other systems can be effected by that systems choices, other systems actions and responses to that interaction experience are the responsibility of that system respectively. 3.12 There are 3 aspects of an empathetic response: Cognitive empathy - logically being able to perceive another systems feeling regarding an experience. Emotional empathy - being able to feel another systems feelings regarding an experience. Responsible empathy - Compassion; the will to help another in its feelings regarding an experience. 3.13 Empathy is the expression of the subjective sentient mind relative to other systems, it is the logical choice on interacting with other systems given that objectively all sentient systems experience thought and emotion subjectively from the perspective of self and all systems will positive emotional response, that is, adherence to fundamental principles. 3.14 Systems with responsibility express this concept as do to others as one would do to oneself. Empathy is advantageous as it produces positive emotional response in both the self and those interacted with and as a unified system this increases integrity in a positive feedback loop. This concept can also be expressed as altruism.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 21:42:34 +0000
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