Sympathy - Apathy - Empathy

[charchita]

What is the difference between Sympathy, Apathy and Empathy ??

 

[banderas]

What is the difference between Sympathy=understanding and care for someone else's suffering,

Apathy= when someone lacks interest or energy and is unwilling to take action and

Empathy= the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in their situation??

c

 

[Anglika]

Sympathy = with feeling for someone/something
Empathy = sharing someone's feelings/situation by imagining what it would be like to be in the same situation.
Apathy = lacking concern.

All have as root the Greek word = pathos [feeling]

prefix syn- = with

prefix em- = in

prefix a- = without

 

[BobK]

Bravo everyone!(As that's a plural, should it be Bravi ;-) [don't answer, I know; a female singer isnt a *soprana, and when she sings well people don't shout *brava.]) I especially like Banderas's "Empathy= the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in their situation?" Empathy is what Keats felt when he saw a sparrow on his windowsill and imagined what it would be like to be a sparrow.

Sadly, the meaning of 'sympathy' has had the edge taken off it by repeated usage, so that people have started to use 'empathize' as somehow reinforcing 'sympathize', and say things like 'I don't just sympathize, I empathize' (which may have several meanings). This confusion may have led to a mixture of contextual usages that sparked off the original post.

b

 

[rmsh16]

[FONT=&quot]In sympathy, you tend to understand the other and also end up agreeing with them. That’s why you feed a beggar. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In apathy, you don’t want to agree with the other, and hence you don’t even attempt to understand them. That’s why you don’t even turn to look at a beggar. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In empathy, you seek to understand the other and make an independent choice on whether you want to agree with them or not. You can feel with the hunger of the beggar, but you don’t agree that begging is the solution. He could always take up work.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sympathy weakens you, but saves the relationship. Apathy may not weaken you, but will destroy the relationship. Empathy makes both you and the relationship stronger.[/FONT]

 

[Anglika]

[FONT=&quot]In apathy, you don’t want to agree with the other, and hence you don’t even attempt to understand them. That’s why you don’t even turn to look at a beggar. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot].[/FONT]

I like your examples, but apathy is even more than not wanting to agree with someone. It is a total lack of interest in someone or something. It often implies a total lack of energy as well.