Professor of
Linguistics, UC Berkeley Author:
The Political Mindand many other books.
Says empathy is the foundation of morality and of progressive values.
Videos of George Lakoff talking about Empathy.
The following video clips are excerpts of the
sections on empathy from various talks.
Each clip is followed by a written outline.
2010-12-10-
Untellable Truths - Huffington Post Democrats need to unite behind a simple set of moral principles and
to create an effective language to express them. President Obama in his
campaign expressed those principles simply, as the basis of American
democracy. (1) Empathy -- Americans care about each other.
(2)
Responsibility, both personal and social. We have to act on that
care....
Presidents can have a discourse-changing
power if they know how to use it and care to use it. But they cannot do
it alone. If there is a teachable communication moment for President
Obama, this is it. Bring back "empathy" -- "the most
important thing my mother taught me." Speak of "empathy" for "people who
are hurting." Say again how empathy is basis of democracy ("caring for
your fellow citizens"), how we have a responsibility to act on
that empathy: social as well as personal responsibility. Bring the
central role of empathy in democracy to the media. And make it clear
that personal responsibility alone is anti-patriotic, the opposite of
what America is fundamentally about. That is the first step in telling
our most important untellable truths. And it is a necessary step in
loosening the conservative grip on public discourse.
Mr. Lakoff talked about
the future of the Democratic Party and progressive policy
issues. He spoke on the last day of a progressive political...
to viewer comments and questions. George
Lakoff is the author of [Don't Think of an...
As part of the first YearlyKos convention titled,
"YearlyKos: Uniting the Netroots," members of the first panel
talked about communicating progressive ideas at the grassroots
level. Topics included political...
George Lakoff talked
about his book Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values
and Frame the Debate: The Essential Guide for Progressives,
published by Chelsea Green Publishing Company.
George Lakoff,
author of "Thinking Points: Communicating Our American
Values and Vision" joins Burce Cain of the University of
California's Washington Center for ...
In the second panel discussion, "Deceiving
Images: The Science of Manipulation," Frank Luntz and
others talked about how political candidates use language.
Berkeley George
Lakoff explains that liberals and conservatives have
different world views which determine their positions on
issues.
George Lakoff in
conversation with Mark Danner: George Lakoff's application of cognitive
science and linguistics to politics has brought him to national
attention.
The interaction between mind,
politics and society? George Lakoff is a New York Times
bestselling author and his new book, The Political Mind: Why
You ...
The Authors@Google program was pleased to welcome
author and professor George Lakoff to Google's New York office to
discuss his new book, "The Political Mind".
Empathy Section
Conservative Model - Strict Father
Progressive Model - Nurturing Family
Mapped on to politics
Empathy and caring is at heart of it
protection and empowerment
Mirror Neurons discovery
show how empathy works
empathy is physical
fire when we cooperate
we naturally connect with others
has to do with progressive politics
The Obama Campaign
empathy is the hearth about the campaign
mentions it in many of his speeches
List of speeches
patriotism - people caring for each
other
mother taught him empathy
Obama's policies are based on empathy
Foreign polices has to do with empathy
major problems are at the level of
the individual not at national level
Linguist and professor George Lakoff, author of The
Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century
American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain, says it's all
about ..
Cognitive science and linguistics professor George Lakoff talked
about his book, The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand
21st-Century American Politics with an 18th Century Brain.
Empathy section
Is the major purpose of reason to pursue
self-interest? no
1996 - discovery of mirror neurons
monkeys and humans have mirror neurons
we mirror each other
can feel each others emotions, joy,
pain, etc,
we are biologically set up for empathy
upbringing can modify that - support
or inhibit
a large part of reason is used for
empathy and connecting with others and cooperating
Reason and Politics?
reason is as much about empathy as
self-interest
why does it matter?
We need a new Enlightenment of Real
Reason
empathy is the basis of our democracy
starts with empathy is the basis of
our democracy
constitutions 'equality being self
evident' came from people reading novels, paintings, arts, about
the poor and having empathy - 1750's
constitution and laws are a way to
carry out empathy
our democracy is based on empathy
empathy creates the basis of morality
- ethics
Canonical neurons - link us to the
physical environment
train people to feel the physical
world
New Enlightenment we need to train
people to feel the physical world
Train people in increasing empathy
Old Enlightenment reason is false,
empirically false
Enlightenment says should favor
science because it's rational and logical
scientist say old rationality is not
reasonable
real rational says science is based on
metaphor, metaphorical thought
This episode features George Lakoff,
world renowned linguist and progressive political analyst.
George Lakoff is a Professor of cognitive
linguistics at the University of ...
Politics and the Brain?
It's all relevant
Enlightenment Reasoning says
thought is conscious - you
know what you think.
reason is dispassionate,
unemotional
logical
literally fits the world
universal, we all reason
the same way
is abstract
is for self interest.
It's all false - every
part
thought is conscious -
you know what you think.
most reason is not
accusable to contious thought
reason is dispassionate,
need emotion to reason
Dematio studies
unemotional
logical
we think in term of
metaphors and frames
literally fits the world
is not literal
universal, we all reason
the same way
have a logic of their
own
not formal logic
is abstract
thought is not
abstract
is based on the way
our bodies work
imagine drawing -
imagine, dream same brain lights up
meaning is capacity
for imagination
every idea is
physically
Empathy Section
Self
interest 6:27
Self vr.
mirror neurons.
are
connected to others
neuron are
connected to emotion
Empathy is
physical
we have
inherited capacity for empathy
it's in
our brains
reason is
unconscious
has
emotional ties
metaphorical - not literal
not
abstract but physical
not on
self interest but on empathy
8:00
Where's the hope
for America if still have18th century thinking?
things progress
need to rethink
politics, etc.
conservatives
have controlled language and gotten their ideas out.
language is not
neutral
need to get rid
of old notion of reason
'It's in the self interest to
attack a country', how would you address this?
it's a metaphor
idea is a notion that countries have
self interest
foreign policy at level of the state
most important are at the level of
person
need to change that.
terror is not at level of state
As linguist, what drew you to
linguistics?
liked math and poetry
loved language and wanted to
understand how mind worked
Collaboration with Mark Johnson?
he worked on metaphor
thought is metaphorical
wrote a book together Philosophy in
Flesh
What did you learn about
collaboration?
people work together in science
community
What about framing and freedom?
Inspired by Bushes use of freedom in
speech
contested concepts
definition depends on your worldview
shared metaphor
freedom of motion
freedom of action
conservative
freedom to
discipline and authority
freedom comes from accepting
authority
are you disciplined enough to
follow authority
freedom is spread of capitalism
progressive
freedom from
government protects you in many
ways\
taxis maintain freedom
How success have you been in
affecting politics?
half full
big job is to change ideas and have
not succeed well.
Professor George Lakoff educated the audience about
the effects of Prop 13, which was brought about in the
1970s. Exclaims about getting a ballot proposition for 2010
to get ...
President Obama's second
intellectual move concerns what the fundamental American values are. In
Moral Politics, I described what I found to be the implicit, often
unconscious, value systems behind progressive and conservative thought.
Progressive thought rests, first, on the value of empathy--putting
oneself in other people's shoes, seeing the world through their eyes,
and therefore caring about them. The second principle is acting on that
care, taking responsibility both for oneself and others, social as well
as individual responsibility. The third is acting to make oneself, the
country, and the world better--what Obama has called an "ethic of
excellence" toward creating "a more perfect union" politically.
Historian Lynn Hunt, in
Inventing Human Rights, has shown that those values, beginning with
empathy, lie historically behind the human rights expressed in the
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Obama, in various
interviews and speeches, has provided the logical link. Empathy is not
mere sympathy. Putting oneself in the shoes of others brings with it the
responsibility to act on that empathy--to be "our brother's keeper and
our sister's keeper"--and to act to improve ourselves, our country, and
the world.
The logic is simple: Empathy
is why we have the values of freedom, fairness, and equality -- for
everyone, not just for certain individuals. If we put ourselves in the
shoes of others, we will want them to be free and treated fairly.
Empathy with all leads to equality: no one should be treated worse than
anyone else. Empathy leads us to democracy: to avoid being subject
indefinitely to the whims of an oppressive and unfair ruler, we need to
be able to choose who governs us and we need a government of laws.
Obama has consistently
maintained that what I, in my writings, have called "progressive" values
are fundamental American values. From his perspective, he is not a
progressive; he is just an American. That is a crucial intellectual
move.
The Sotomayor nomination has given radical conservatives new life. They
have launched an attack that is nominally aimed at Judge Sotomayor. But
it is really a coordinated stealth attack -- on President Obama's
central vision, on progressive thought itself, and on Republicans who
might stray from the conservative hard line.
There are several fronts: Empathy, feelings,
racism, activist judges. Each one has a hidden dimension. And if
progressives think conservative attacks are just about Sotomayor, they
may wind up helping conservatives regroup.
If you live in California (one out of
eight Americans does), then join the California Democracy Movement. If
you live elsewhere, form your own democracy movement and unite with us.
The principles are simple, and they are Obama's: Democracy is
about empathy - caring about your fellow citizens,
which leads to the principles of freedom and fairness for all. Empathy
requires both personal and social responsibility. The ethic of
excellence means making the world better by making yourself better, your
family better, your community better, and your nation better. Government
has two moral missions: protection and empowerment for all. To carry
them out, government must be by, for, and of the people.
