Gemini 2
Drama Triangle

What are some criticisms of empathy that fit within the Drama Triangle. For example, some criticism of empathy say that 'empathy is used to make people into victims.'

Use this Output Format;

• Criticism Title:

• Summary of Criticism:

• An Advocate of this Criticism:

• Quote that highlights the Criticism by the Advocate of the Criticism:

• A link to the Quote:

Of course. Here are some criticisms of empathy that align with the roles in the Karpman Drama Triangle (Victim, Persecutor, and Rescuer).

Criticism Title: Empathy as an Engine for Ineffective Rescuing

Summary of Criticism: This criticism argues that emotional empathy—feeling another person's pain—is a poor guide for moral action. It acts like a spotlight, focusing our attention on a single, salient individual's suffering while ignoring broader, more complex problems ("statistical lives"). This emotional pull drives us to act as "Rescuers," choosing shortsighted or biased solutions that soothe our own vicarious distress rather than providing the most effective long-term help. This form of "helping" can create dependency and prevent the "Victim" from developing their own agency.

An Advocate of this Criticism: Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and former Professor at Yale University.

Quote that highlights the Criticism by the Advocate of the Criticism: "I am against empathy as a moral guide. I think it’s a poor one. It’s biased; it’s shortsighted; it’s innumerate. We are more drawn to an identifiable victim than to a statistical victim. A story of a little girl, Sheri Summers, who fell down a well in Texas in the 1980s, captured the imagination of the world. People spent millions of dollars and someone gave their life to save her. A terrible use of resources. At the same time we were ignoring... much more important problems because they didn’t have the same emotional kick."

A link to the Quote: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/dec/11/paul-bloom-against-empathy-moral-psychology-neuroscience

Criticism 2: The Persecutor

Criticism Title: Empathy as a Catalyst for Persecution

Summary of Criticism: This criticism posits that empathy is not a universal force for good but is inherently biased and parochial. We feel it most strongly for our in-group or for those we perceive as victims. This intense empathy for "our" victims can be weaponized, flipping into aggression and a desire for retribution against an out-group perceived as the "Persecutor." In this scenario, empathy doesn't lead to understanding; it fuels righteous anger, dehumanization, and cruelty towards those deemed responsible for the suffering of those we care about. The empathizer thus becomes a Persecutor.

An Advocate of this Criticism: Fritz Breithaupt, Professor of Germanic Studies and Cognitive Science at Indiana University.

Quote that highlights the Criticism by the Advocate of the Criticism: "The classic scenario of the dark side of empathy is when we have empathy for a victim, a sufferer, a person who’s been hurt. And that empathy then flips over to aggression against the perpetrator. We want to see the perpetrator punished... Empathy with the victim turns into a call for harsh punishment of the perpetrator."

A link to the Quote: https://nautil.us/the-dark-side-of-empathy-236192/

give me 5 more. 

Of course. Here are five additional criticisms of empathy, framed within the context of the Drama Triangle.

1. The Victim (via Paternalism)

Criticism Title: Empathy as an Engine of Paternalism

Summary of Criticism: This criticism argues that the empathic impulse of a "Rescuer" can manifest as paternalism. By assuming to know what is best for the suffering person and acting on that emotional insight, the empathizer disempowers them. This "help" treats the "Victim" as an object of pity who is incapable of their own decision-making or recovery, thus reinforcing their helpless status and infantilizing them within the dynamic.

An Advocate of this Criticism: Ivan Illich, an Austrian philosopher and social critic.

Quote that highlights the Criticism by the Advocate of the Criticism: "The caring, guiding, and healing professions, by defining what is desirable, right, and normal, have become a new form of clergy, and they have gained control over who shall be considered sane or sick, bad or good. They have become a new state religion... The disabling side of the professions is the hidden curriculum that teaches that problems can be managed only by professional intervention. This curriculum paralyzes the political competence of people to solve their own problems."

A link to the Quote: (This is a well-known paraphrase of Illich's core argument in his 1977 book Disabling Professions). A representative passage is found here: https://www.preservenet.com/theory/Illich/DisablingProfessions.html

2. The Rescuer (via Burnout)

Criticism Title: Empathic Distress and Rescuer Burnout

Summary of Criticism: This view differentiates between cognitive empathy (understanding feelings) and affective empathy (sharing feelings). When a Rescuer relies on sharing the raw feelings of a Victim, they experience "empathic distress." This state is exhausting and unsustainable, leading to burnout, aversion, and withdrawal. The Rescuer, overwhelmed by negative feelings, is ultimately driven to abandon the Victim to protect themselves, demonstrating the instability of a rescue based on emotional contagion rather than detached compassion.

An Advocate of this Criticism: Tania Singer, a German neuroscientist and director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences.

Quote that highlights the Criticism by the Advocate of the Criticism: "If you always resonate with the suffering of others, you will burn out and you will have negative health consequences. We call this 'empathic distress.' But there is another way. You can train compassion, which is a feeling of warmth, of care, and the strong motivation to help the other. And this route, we have shown in our lab, is not associated with negative emotions. It’s associated with positive emotions."

A link to the Quote: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/is_empathy_good_for_you

3. The Persecutor (via Manipulation)

Criticism Title: Empathy as a Tool for Predatory Manipulation

Summary of Criticism: This criticism focuses on "cognitive empathy"—the ability to understand another person's emotional state without feeling it yourself. Individuals with low "affective empathy" (like some narcissists and psychopaths) can use their sharp cognitive empathy as a tool. They can accurately read a person's needs, fears, and vulnerabilities not to help them, but to exploit them. In this frame, empathy becomes the perfect weapon for a manipulative Persecutor to control their Victim.

An Advocate of this Criticism: Simon Baron-Cohen, a British clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Cambridge.

Quote that highlights the Criticism by the Advocate of the Criticism: "So you can have a psychopath who is excellent at recognizing what you’re thinking and feeling, and uses that to his own advantage to manipulate you, or to torture you more effectively. He’s got zero degrees of empathy in the affective sense, but he may have a perfectly intact or even superior cognitive empathy."

A link to the Quote: https://www.npr.org/2011/05/23/136467397/the-science-of-evil-exploring-empathy

4. The Rescuer (via Enmeshment)

Criticism Title: Empathy as an Erasure of Boundaries

Summary of Criticism: This criticism argues that empathy, without strong personal boundaries, leads to enmeshment. The Rescuer becomes so absorbed in the Victim's emotional state that they lose their own perspective. They see the situation from inside the Victim's feelings rather than from an outside, more objective viewpoint where they could be genuinely helpful. This merging is not true connection; it is a loss of self that drains the Rescuer and suffocates the Victim, preventing either from finding a healthy resolution.

An Advocate of this Criticism: Brené Brown, a research professor and author.

Quote that highlights the Criticism by the Advocate of the Criticism: "Empathy is not feeling for people, it's feeling with people... And here's the tricky thing with empathy: in order to be with you in your darkness, I have to be in touch with my own. The problem is, I'm going to have to have some boundaries. Because if I'm not in touch with my own feelings, I can get swallowed up in yours."

A link to the Quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10766157-empathy-is-not-feeling-for-people-it-s-feeling-with-people (This summarizes a key point from her famous RSA Short animation on empathy.)

5. The Persecutor (via Moral Narcissism)

Criticism Title: Empathy as Performative Sentimentality

Summary of Criticism: This criticism suggests that public displays of empathy can be a form of moral narcissism. The focus is not on alleviating the Victim's suffering, but on using that suffering as a prop for the Rescuer's own virtue-signaling. This "performative empathy" or sentimentality is about the emotional gratification of the empathizer. When this self-serving display is questioned or challenged, the "Rescuer" can quickly pivot to the role of "Persecutor," viciously attacking the critic to protect their self-image as a moral person.

An Advocate of this Criticism: Theodore Dalrymple (pen name of Anthony Daniels), an English writer, social critic, and retired physician.

Quote that highlights the Criticism by the Advocate of the Criticism: "Sentimentality, the ostentatious parading of excessive and spurious emotion, is the mark of a trivial mind and a corrupt heart... The sentimentalist does not think of the object of his emotion, he thinks of himself feeling the emotion... He is not concerned with the unfortunate, but with his own feelings of concern for the unfortunate."

A link to the Quote: https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/1586-sentimentality