The Pink Spiders of Empathy

by Douglas Wilson

CAUGHT IN AN EMOTIONAL WEB
Does your friend have a verifiable brain tumor . . . or hallucinations of little pink spiders? Empathy demands that you accept “his truth” and feel his distress as keenly as he does. And get as stuck as he is in his delusions.

Douglas Wilson examines the empathy trap and calls us to anchor our love for our neighbor in objective truth. Only then can we remain free from the web ourseives and offer effective help to others who are caught. It’s time to shine the light of the gospel into the cobwebby corners of our culture and send the spiders scurrying.

107 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 16, 2025

About the author

I write in order to make the little voices in my head go away. Thus far it hasn't worked.

Reviews

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally, I'm not fond of spiders of any color. But this book is safe for arachnophobes. The title comes from an illustration: Should we empathize with someone who is hallucinating, e.g., believing that little pink spiders are running up and down his spine? Or maybe believing he is a she? It's somehow become deeply shocking and objectionable to say no, we shouldn't do that for confused people...and we doubly shouldn't do that for deliberate liars. Wilson's book is a gloss on Rigney's empathy titles, so read them first, but add this to your shelf if you're studying the topic. And Stuckey's book, too, I'm sure, but I confess I haven't read that one yet.

We made a foray into Amazon's AI-generated audio with this one. I haven't seen any feedback yet. Let me know if you've listened to it or heard from anybody who has.