Unbound Odysseus: Fulsome Empathy Need Not Be Paradoxical
Document Type
Journal Article
Published In
Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
Publication Date
9-2025
Abstract
In the challenge to surmount the epistemic wall so that we can transform ourselves, L. M. Paul articulates two responses. In one, our anxiety about embracing new experience can lead “rationally” to a closed-mindedness. In this response, the costs to our fundamental identity are too high to risk full empathy. Paul also, however, understands that we owe it to ourselves to be open to “revelation and discovery,” which leads to reconstruction of ourselves and which requires “a sense of playfulness and optimism.” To understand these two responses, we look in this article to a psychoanalytic, developmental perspective. We articulate four existential-relational positions that differently position us epistemologically and relationally to others. We proffer that such a developmental perspective might help with dissolving the paradox of our seeking and fearing transformation.
Keywords
Empathy, Epistemology, Psychoanalytic Theory
Suggested Citation
Webb, Richard E. and Rosenbaum, Philip J., "Unbound Odysseus: Fulsome Empathy Need Not Be Paradoxical" (2025). Staff Scholarship. Paper 5.
Comments
Author's manuscript freely available on their website.