A Comparative Study of Aristotle's Theory of Catharsis And Empathy Based on The Function of Mirror Neurons
Catharsis And Mirror Neurons
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/jah.v11i1.2213Keywords:
Catharsis, Mirror Neurons, Empathy.Abstract
New scientific findings indicate the discovery of a group of neurons in the pre-motor part of the cortex of the brain. Some of these neurons, including motor neurons, sensory neurons, and some of the most important recent discoveries are known as mirror neurons. The present article examines mirror neurons in order to explain its functions in the process of imitation, empathy and its relationship with the concept of Aristotle's catharsis. It seems that the roots of Aristotelian catharsis can be traced to the way in which mirror nerves function, on the one hand, because the audience of tragedy is afraid of being caught in the same situation as the hero of the tragedy, and on the other hand sympathizes with him. The main question of the present study is how physiologically, the audience is cultivated through observation of the play and through empathy with the other and is refined based on Aristotle's theory of catharsis? First, the concept of catharsis has been studied by Aristotle, then the function of mirror neurons and how they function in relation to the problem of empathy or empathy has been studied. Finally, by applying the function of mirror nerves and its role in creating a process of empathy with another and Aristotle's theory of catharsis, the concept of catharsis has been revised through the lens of empirical science.
References
Aristotle, Poetica, (1398), Translator: Saeed Honarmand, Tehran: Cheshmeh.
Zimran, Mohammad, (2006), Aristotle's Philosophy of Art, Tehran: Academy of Arts.
Copleston, Frederick Charles, (2007), History of Philosophy: Greece and Rome (Vol. 1), Translator: Seyed Jalaluddin Mojtaba, Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publications.
Gaiton, Hall, (2010), Medical Physiology, Translator: Farrokh Shadan, Tehran: Chehr.
Mirshakari, Javad and (word selection group), (2017), Dictionary of words approved by the Academy: Fourth Office, Tehran: Academy of Persian Language and Literature Publications.
Bellet, Paul S., J. Maloney, Michael, (1991), The Importance of Empathy as an Interviewing Skill in Medicine, The JAMA Network.
De Waal F (2009) The age of empathy: nature’s lessons for a kinder society. Three Rivers Press, NewYork.
De Vignemont F, Singer T (2006) The empathic brain: how, when and why? Trends Cogn Sci.
Dickert, S (2009). "Attentional mechanisms in the generation of sympathy". Judgment and Decision Making.
Eisenberg N, Strayer J (1990) Critical issues in the study of empathy. In: Eisenberg N, Strayer J (eds) Empathy and its development. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Farrow T, Hunter M, Wilkinson I, Gouneea C, Fawbert D, Smith R, Lee K, Mason S, Spence S, Woodruff P (2005) Quantifiable change in functional brain response to empathic and forgivability judgments with resolution of posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging.
Fornaro, Sotera, (2016), ‘Catharsis’. From Lessing’s Moral Purification to Goethe’s Purity of Form, SKENE: Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies.
Gallese V (2003) The Roots of Empathy: the shared manifold hypothesis and the neural basis of intersubjectivity. Psychopathology 36(4):171–180
Gallese V (2008) Empathy, embodied simulation, and the brain: commentary on Aragno and Zepf/Hartmann. J Am Psychoanal Assess 56(3):769–781
Gallese V (2009) Mirror neurons, embodied simulation, and the neural basis of social identification. Psychoanal Dialogues 19(5):519–536
Gallese V (2011) Mirror neurons and art. In: Bacci F, Melcher D (eds) Art and the senses. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 445–463
Golden, Leon, (1962), Catharsis, Published By: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hoffman ML (2001) Empathy and moral development: implications for caring and justice. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Mukamel R, Ekstrom AD, Kaplan J, Iacoboni M, Fried I (2010) Single-neuron responses in humans during execution and observation of actions, New York..
Praszkier, Ryszard, (2014), Empathy, mirror neurons and SYNC, Mind & Society.
Ramachandran VS (2006) Mirror neurons and the brain in the vat. http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/ramachandran06/ramachandran06_index.html. Accessed 26 Nov 2014
Ramachandran VS, Oberman LM (2006) Broken mirrors: a theory of autism. Sci Am 63:69
Rizzolatti G, Fabbri-Destro M (2008) The mirror system and its role in social cognition. Curr Opin Neurobiol 18(2):179–184
Roy S (2010) The psychology of empathy. Futurehealth. www.futurehealth.org/populum/page.php?f= The-Psychology-of-Empathy-by-Saberi-Roy-100620-281.html. Accessed 26 Nov 2014.
Thompson E (2001) Empathy and consciousness. J Conscious Stud 8(5–7)
Iacoboni M, Dapretto M (2006) The mirror neuron system and the consequences of its dysfunction. Nat Rev Neurosci 7(12):942–951
Iacoboni M (2009) Mirroring people; the science of empathy and how we connect with others. Picador, New York
url1: https://medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Catharsis+(medicine)
url2: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444306002: the encyclopedia of positive psychology
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 fateme delfani baluch
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).