ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to provide the question concerning what emotions are with the question concerning how we are related to other persons’ emotions. It deals with a brief overview of theories of emotions. The chapter outlines the concepts of empathy and sympathy and discusses the question concerning the possibility of empathy when emotions are construed as judgments, construals of the situation or of the surrounding world, and affects. It discusses problems which arise in that kind of theory. A few remarks are also made on the type of theory in which emotions are regarded as construals. The chapter argues that the combination of the affect theory and empathy is not without problems, either, if the supporter of the affect theory regards empathy as knowledge of the other’s affects. Extreme cases, such as encounters with the dying in hospices, may teach something of what is required of an empathetic attitude.
