Tuesday 26 April 2022
Not exactly sympathy
The diagnosis of dangerous illness would be accepted by one with a laugh and a joke, by another with dumb despair. Philip found that he was less shy with these people than he had ever been with others; he felt not exactly sympathy, for sympathy suggests condescension; but he felt at home with them.
W. Somerset Maugham - Of Human Bondage (1915)
Democratic governments and government agencies like to show oodles of sympathy whenever they have to opportunity. Our thoughts are with… It’s become a standard mantra, but it is how institutional condescension can be made to seem less condescending.
Another approach is to create a sense of paternal sympathy - we understand the problems this causes but it has to be this way. Alternatively make the narrative appear to be purely factual, promoted by experts who know best - it’s unfortunate, of course it is, but the experts know what they are talking about don’t they?
An enormous amount of effort seems to go into making sure government propaganda has a kind of official sympathy at its core. Which is where the condescension is too.
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2 comments:
Adam Smith is very good on sympathy: he would disagree with "sympathy suggests condescension". Quite the opposite.
The condescension stems from the falsity of the claim of sympathy.
dearieme - I recently downloaded a Kindle version of Adam Smith's works but haven't delved into it yet. I read Wealth of Nations years ago, but not his Theory of Moral Sentiments.
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