Sunday, March 24, 2013
Regarding "Fellow-Feeling"
Adam Smith writes that we naturally take pleasure and pain from the pleasure and pain from others. He says this only works when the spectator raises their level of sympathy and the person principally concerned lowers their feeling. However, I think there are certain situations where neither person would have to change there feelings for a connection to be made. For example, if I am talking with Amanda (who is afraid of needles) about going to the doctor and getting my blood drawn, I would not have to lower my feelings and she would not have to raise her sympathy, because we would have the same level of pain about the situation. So, I find it persuasive to say that not every situation would require a person to raise or lower their feelings.
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I think that what Smith is trying to say about the impartial spectator is that generally we have to sort of meet people half-way in order to establish a connection. Sometimes we will be on the same level as others, like your Amanda example, but many times we will have to adjust our levels in order to connect effectively with other people.
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