BharatNotes Empathy
nounUsage in a UPSC answer
A welfare state cannot be administered by procedure alone; the truly responsive civil servant tempers statutory rigour with empathy, grasping the lived deprivation behind every file before disposing of it.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
empathise (v), empathetic (adj), empathetically (adv), empathic (adj), empathiser (n)
Root
Greek empatheia = passion; en- = in; pathos = feeling; coined 1909 by Titchener to translate German Einfühlung
Etymology
Coined by American psychologist Edward Bradford Titchener in 1909 to translate the German Einfühlung ("feeling into"), which was itself coined by philosopher Rudolf Lotze in 1858; derived from Greek empatheia ("passion"), combining en ("in") and pathos ("feeling").
Memory Hook
"em-PATH-y" = entering (em-, "in") another's PATH (Greek pathos, "feeling") — you walk in their feelings, not just beside them as in sympathy.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
The capacity to understand and share another's feelings, and one of the foundational values named in the GS4 syllabus. The distinction that earns marks is between empathy and sympathy: empathy enters the other person's frame of reference, while sympathy feels for them from outside it. In administration, empathy is what makes a decision responsive to the governed rather than merely correct on file.
Don’t Confuse It With
Empathy is understanding and sharing another's feelings from within their perspective. Sympathy is feeling concern for someone from one's own perspective. Compassion adds the impulse to relieve suffering. Pity implies a position of superiority and is generally the wrong word in administrative writing.
Hindi Meaning
समानुभूति (samānubhūti); सहानुभूति (sahānubhūti) is sympathy, and the two are routinely swapped.
Common Questions
- What is the difference between empathy and sympathy?
- Empathy is understanding and sharing another person's feelings from their point of view. Sympathy is feeling concern for them from your own point of view.
- Why does empathy matter for a civil servant?
- It allows a decision to account for how it will actually be experienced by the people affected, rather than being merely procedurally correct.
Seen in UPSC Question Papers
- Mains 2022 · GS4 · 10 marks — Ethics in Public Administration
Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Empathy” — proof this word earns its place on your list.
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