ABSTRACT
Heinz Kohut asserts that in his earlier paper on 'Introspection, Empathy, and Psychoanalysis', he spoke of empathy as a long-familiar concept in psychoanalysis - a value neutral mode of observation attuned to our inner life, just as extrospection is a mode of observation attuned to scientific exploration of the external world. Empathy then became the key to his argument against the inclusion in psychoanalysis of data obtained from biological assumptions, and from socio-psychological concepts. One should note his depiction of empathy as a means of gathering information in both psychoanalysis and everyday life. These clarifications may then be compared with Kohut's epistemological stance in defining the realm of psychoanalysis, as well as with his assertion of the beneficial effects of empathy in treatment and life in general. In claiming that the presence of empathy is beneficial, Kohut ranges into areas of ethical and philosophical speculation, including the basic nature of intergenerational relations.
