What Does Empathy and Understanding Look Like Across Communication Divides?
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In qualitative research, researchers and participants must understand each other. In hermeneutics, empathy is typically presented as the road to that understanding. In this article, we ask what empathy is and how empathy can contribute to the knowledge needed for practical theology. We also consider empathy between people who communicate in very different ways, such as when a non-speaking autistic person communicates with a speaking non-autistic person. By drawing on insights from philosophy, counseling, and social sciences and by discussing markers of linguistic and non-linguistic empathy, we work towards a theological account of empathy that is practically relevant in research and other situations.
Source: Ecclesial Practices
Authors: Helena Cundill, Armand Léon van Ommen
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4408043910