Shaun Gallagher, “Music First, Narrative Later: Understanding Empathy”

Abstract: In this presentation I start by briefly mapping out different theories of empathy. I then suggest that Colwyn Trevarthen’s work on intersubjective interaction, which he characterizes as involving sympathy (an older term than empathy), provides an alternative view of basic empathy, and some important insights that can inform these debates. I conclude by highlighting a problem about the role that narrative plays in Trevarthen’s account. I suggest that there is a continuity between basic and higher-order empathy based not on narrative, but on the continuing role of primary intersubjectivity – the music of intersubjective relations – that extends throughout the life span.