ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relationship between empathy and intersubjectivity. Then explores, within the bounds of intersubjectivity, the way in which empathy entails a 'double representation'. Intersubjectivity is understood to mean our interrelated being together with one another in the interhuman world. Empathy is the function through which intersubjectivity makes sense, insofar as without empathy we would not even be able to conceive of human beings as capable of expressing and being receptive to expressions of feelings. The oscillation between features that is so characteristic of many accounts of empathy may well turn out to be the shadow cast by the hermeneutic circle upon empathy. In shifting the emphasis of the discussion from empathie receptivity to empathie understanding, the author approach the boundary between empathy and interpretation. The self is enriched by belonging to a community of other individuals whose cultural tradition provides opportunities for innovation. In emotional contagion a representation of the other's feeling is aroused in the subject.
