The role of interest and empathy in the formation of persons

Abstract

Persons are a result of acts, particularly actions with others, i.e., personal relations. In this paper, I will show, through the notions of interest and empathy, that persons are formed as a result of activity in a sensuous and social world. It will be shown that the capacity to put one's self in the place of the other, and to act and interact in a community with others, allow the individual to evolve into a full-formed, self-conscious, sensuous, and social person.