A professor mentioned today that the Study of history largely consists of two parts: The intellectual, analytical angle frequently focused on in academic settings, yet also an imaginative, empathetic side. I found this to be an interesting assertion leading me to question what role Empathy can play in the study of history.
That there is room for Sympathy would likely be largely agreed on. I suspect that few can learn about the events and horrors of the past and fail to experience some degree of shock and pity in response to traumatic experiences that individuals must have encountered. The same is likely true even of the less horrific yet more chronic working and living conditions of various ages.
Yet even if one were overwhelmed by this sense of sympathy, would empathy be possible? To what degree can we envision life across temporal, physical and cultural barriers? Even when we remove the temporal aspect, how much can we relate to our contemporaries who live a life geographically and socially removed from our own?
In that same class we discussed the Bubonic Plague. In this instance, I do not think that I can imaginatively do the event justice. While the chaos and despair which inevitably ensued can easily be grasped in an intellectual and numerical sense, the reality of living at the time seems beyond my empathetic reach.
Nonetheless, I find this idea of Historical Empathy intriguing, and believe that it is something to be desired, if not attained.
Sincerely, Abigail Quinnley
