Empathy and reasoning aren’t rivals, research shows

Our findings suggest that the most powerful approach may be to pair empathy’s motivation with reasoning’s direction.

For years, philosophers and psychologists have debated whether empathy helps or hinders the ways people decide how to help others. Critics of empathy argue that it makes people care too narrowly—focusing on individual stories rather than the broader needs of society—while careful reasoning enables more impartial, evidence-based choices.