Essay On Intellectual Empathy

Courage, autonomy, and perseverance are intellectual virtues that focus on one’s ability to accomplish something through self-oriented goals. In contrast, empathy focuses more so on other people. Empathy is a key element in the career I am pursuing as a physician’s assistant. In fact, unlike other virtues, the mind doesn’t naturally develop intellectual empathy. Rather, it’s predisposed to do the opposite, to focus on selfish intentions. Empathy requires practice in thinking about others viewpoints, and to reason from premises, assumptions, and ideas other than our own, including opposing views. It requires the consciousness to put oneself in the place of others to understand them. The “good hearted” person who lacks intellectual empathy will act morally only when a situation doesn’t presuppose intellectual insight.
I constantly push myself to figure out how my actions or words may impact the other party. However, even though …show more content…
By neglecting to consider his patient not only had he strained his relationship with the patient but he also failed his duties as a physician and leader in the medical field. I realized where the medical profession tends to fail at times is not acknowledging people have feelings, they are more than a patient that needs help, and this is something I want to change. Failing to identify that the patient is the cornerstone of the healing process shows a huge lack of empathy. I think empathy is my strongest intellectual virtue, and I continue on a daily basis to reinforce such a notion. We make choices every day with those we encounter. They may have had different opportunities than we have had. When provided the chance, I always consider what I can do to help others become more visible; how I can talk to others; how I can respect a person in need; and how to value those who don’t appear to be just like