Entangled Empathy: An Alternative Ethic for Our Relationships with Animals

Dierenrechtenbibliotheek

by Lori Gruen

In Entangled Empathy, scholar and activist Lori Gruen argues that rather than focusing on animal “rights,” we ought to work to make our relationships with animals right by empathetically responding to their needs, interests, desires, vulnerabilities, hopes, and unique perspectives. Pointing out that we are already entangled in complex and life-altering relationships with other animals, Gruen guides readers through a new way of thinking about—and practicing—animal ethics.

Gruen describes entangled empathy as a type of caring perception focused on attending to another’s experience of well-being. It is an experiential process involving a blend of emotion and cognition in which we recognize we are in relationships with others and are called upon to be responsive and responsible in these relationships by attending to another. When we engage in entangled empathy we are transformed and in that transformation we can imagine less violent, more meaningful ways of being together.

Genres: Philosophy, Animals, Nature, Nonfiction, Psychology, Vegan, Activism

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2015

About the author

Lori Gruen is Professor of Philosophy, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Environmental Studies at Wesleyan University where she also coordinates Wesleyan Animal Studies. Her work lies at the intersection of ethical theory and practice, with a particular focus on issues that impact those often overlooked in traditional ethical investigations, e.g. women, people of color, non-human animals. She has been involved in animal issues as a writer, teacher, and activist for over 25 years. She is the author, most recently, of the book Ethics and Animals.

Reviews

[Corinne Rhea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read this for an animal ethics class; definitely pleasantly surprised. It is accessible and informative yet still contains a lot of heart. The ethics of care manages to bring a twinge of sentimentality without becoming anthropocentric and losing its focus on animal welfare.

[M]

“Entangled empathy” by Lori Gruen makes an argument for relying on empathy in our treatment of other animals. Placing itself in the feminist tradition of care in animal rights, the book is easy to read and explains simply some important developments in the discourse about animals. First, it makes a case for why traditional, abstract ethical reasoning that is based on the individual doing the right choice (universally), can be wrong, or at least insufficient. Feminist, relational ethics, takes a stronger look at the context and refuses “truncated narratives” that set up binaries or obscure larger problems. Four particularities that the author brings up are: (1) Contextualization instead of abstract principles, (2) Relationality in the practice of ethics instead of relying on a moral individual, (3) Connection and situatedness rather than claiming some sort of impartiality, (4) Responsiveness to context rather than focusing on situations of conflict and choice. Moreover, Gruen refuses the separation of reason and emotion, proposing that they cannot be disentangled, and that we need a theory that bridges the gap between them.

Entangled empathy is defined as “Entangled Empathy: a type of caring perception focused on attending to another's experience of wellbeing. An experiential process involving a blend of emotion and cognition in which we recognize we are in relationships with others and are called upon to be responsive and responsible in these relationships by attending to another's needs, interests, desires, vulnerabilities, hopes, and sensitivities.” (/12)

Her argument for empathy, however, is not at all naïve, and takes into consideration the problems that this might bring, from uncritical anthropomorphism and false projections to insufficient empathy or the lack of it. Narcissistic projection of our own desires, or mediated projection of a particular value or principle, can both affect the well-being of non-human animals. However, both can be corrected, at least in part, for empathy need not be just intuitive, but informed from research and experience, as well. Gruen argues that we are already in relation, and that is why we are “entangled”: “That we are already in relations should ground the demand for more conscientious ethical reflection and engagement. Since we necessarily exist in relation with other organisms, and since our perceptions, attitudes, and even our identities are entangled with them and our actions make their experiences go better or worse (which in turn affects our own experiences), we should attend to this social/natural entanglement.” (/65)

While empathy is reserved for sentient beings, it must not be only be with beings near us. Gruen mentions “storied empathy”, which “suggests that we have the capacity to engage with very different others through narrative, literature, art, and storytelling, and that this capacity, if honed, might help us to engage empathetically with the more-than-human world.” (/73) In addition, the author tries to prevent certain mistakes that empathy can bring us to, by discussing “epistemic inaccuracies” (based on not knowing enough information to react properly) and “ethical inaccuracies” (the failure to respond empathetically when needed).

With its wonderful afterword by pattrice jones, this book easily explains some core concepts helpful in navigating animal ethics and relations.

“WHY GUYS, WHY? ” I ask, glancing up into the rapidly dimming sky. Six ducks stand in a semicircle, decidedly not going into the barn for the night. As I draw nearer, their reason becomes clear: a young hen, rescued from the roadside only days before, wavers before the barn door, unsure. The big ducks, foie gras – factory refugees several times the size of the small chicken, could — but don ' t — push past her to the safety of the barn. Instead, they stand between the young hen and the advancing night, allowing her the time and space she needs to orient herself. She does. She steps inside. The ducks bolt through the door. In deciding what to do that night, those ducks drew upon the very capacity that Lori Gruen would like us to develop and use to resolve our own ethical questions: empathy.” (/94)

Ps. Pages are from the ebook version.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to the ethics of care and a unique approach to understanding and bettering the relationships between humans and animals. Something I wish Gruen had spent more time discussing is how her entangled empathy ethic functions under the assumption of a hierarchy. For example, Gruen says that objects like trees would not be proper subjects of entangled empathy because the tree does not have a perspective or experience meaning that there is nothing to empathize with. Meanwhile, humans would definitely be proper objects of empathetic attention. Gruen is making the argument that nonhuman animals are also proper objects of empathetic attention. What would she say to the person who argues that humans have a right to treat nonhuman animals negatively because while nonhuman animals, like a cow, have their own perspectives and experiences, their conscious experiences are not as intricate or detailed as that of a humans? What would she say about the animal whose conscious experience is not as colorful as a cow? What would empathizing less look like?

[melis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Brigitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great philosophical unpacking of empathy and our relationship with animals.

[Vlad Veen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Entangled Empathy, American philosopher and activist Lori Gruen argues that the prominent ethical paradigms informing the animal rights movement prioritize rigid anthropocentric principles over forming better relationships with animals and empathetically recognize their unique desires, needs, interests, and perspectives. This alternative latter approach is coined by Gruen as Entangled Empathy. Attending to animals in such a way blends cognition and emotion to focus on the sense of wellbeing unique to that animal. This book is broken down into four chapters: an account of principle-based ethical theories (e.g. consequentialism, Kantian deontology) and their limitations, a discussion of what empathy is and isn't, Gruen's tour d'horizon of Entangled Empathy, and approaches to improve empathy. Gruen's style is accessible and direct.

This was my first reading pertaining to animal ethics and I think I made a solid choice. What I appreciated most about this read was Gruen's case to dispense with the eminent conventional ethical positions because they are detached from the sociopolitical context that produces the conditions in which people experience moral struggle. Such perspectives tend to not account for the complexity that social relationships, emotions, and responsiveness imbue into a situation. Furthermore, Gruen doesn't postulate Entangled Empathy as the definitive solution to the conundrums of animal ethics and I agreed with this limitation. There is still much to be done to understand how to improve our ability to empathize (especially since many societal norms tend to stomp them out) and how to apprehend our relationships with other non-human species (and even non-sentient beings like ecosystems and mountains). Yet, Gruen has provided a straightforward blueprint to improve our ethical relations with humans and non-human species alike in addition to our capacity for empathy.

[Martin Rowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm the editor and publisher of this book, and I couldn't be more delighted to welcome Lori Gruen to Lantern! I've been immersed in the philosophy of animal rights for many years, and I've always been a little distrustful of one-size-fits-all systematic theories that aim to offer expansive general principles that explain all situations. We should be especially wary of such theories when it comes to nonhuman animals, given that we're always interacting with different nonhuman animals in different ways. Context and relationship, it seems to me, are all, and Gruen grasps these realities with both hands. In carefully calibrated and refreshingly straightforward prose—with minimal grandstanding, great dollops of humility, and many (perhaps a few too many) caveats—she offers a grounded, intersectional way we might approach ethical decisions regarding other-than-human life. Her book is personal, thoughtful, and—most significantly—centered on relationships with actual animals. She rightly places a great deal of emphasis on understanding the societies and personalities of animals, as individuals and species, and on the need to be attentive to their needs. The book has a terrific afterword from the always interesting pattrice jones and a lively foreword and preface from Marc Bekoff and the women who run Chimp Haven sanctuary.

[mimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading up about feminist ethics of care at the moment, and this book came up a couple of times. It's written very accessibly, with clear reasoning and a balanced tone. My only quibble is I wish Gruen had signalled where her notion of entangled empathy fits within care ethics beyond just discussing Gilligan. Surely the "entangled" part links to Haraway's interspecies entanglement, yet I can't be certain because she doesn't cite her. Hmm.

[Dayton Martindale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise and compelling defense of (and elaboration of) empathy, offering a useful tool for thinking through ethical problems. I particularly appreciate her insights as she speaks to issues in the world and in philosophy of particular concern to me--e.g., animal lib and the apoliticism of mainstream ethical theories.

[Madeleine Thorsander · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good start to understand empathy's role in our relation to non-human animals.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Added this to my FYS this fall. As promised, Gruen provides an alternative way to think about human-animals relationships. Engaging and accessible, this book also provides a good introduction to the uses and limits of some traditional approaches to ethics.