janderson on Nostr: I agree compassion is a virtue, but can you have compassion without empathy? It seems ...

I agree compassion is a virtue, but can you have compassion without empathy?

It seems to me that compassion is the action response to empathy. And while I could see empathy being destructive, I don’t think it is inherently destructive. Consider the following definitions

Empathy
“the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another”

Compassion
“sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it”