Freud, Lipps and the Problem of Empathy

• Project number: CICLO XXXI SSD M-FIL/O3
• Project management: Patrizia Giampieri-Deutsch, Karl Landsteiner University for Health Sciences / Division of Psychodynamics
• Project collaborator: DDr. Ivan Rotella
• Project partner: University Federico II Naples
• Project duration: 48 months from 1 October 2015

Background

The research project, from which both the dissertation "Freud, Lipps and the Problem of Empathy" and a series of publications have emerged, examines a philosophical source of Sigmund Freud's that has not yet been fully elaborated. The concept of empathy, much discussed as a result of new findings in the neuroscientific and cognitive fields (including the discovery of mirror neurons), has led to a revisiting of the theories of Theodor Lipps, who is considered among the most important pioneers of empathy research. This historical study opens up a new reading of Lipps' texts. Five appendices complete the dissertation with new translations of Lipps' texts. Furthermore, the work by DDr. Ivan Rotella systematises the concept of empathy in Lipps and its influence on Sigmund Freud against the background of current research.