True Sympathy vs. Artificial Sympathy

Adam Smith’s analysis and interpretation of Sympathy is profoundly interesting. In the beginning of Part I, Chapter III he states, “To approve of the passions of another, therefore, as suitable to their objects, is the same thing as to observe that we entirely sympathize with them; and not to approve of them as such, is the same thing as to observe that we do not entirely sympathize with them.” I beg to differ with Smith’s claim of sympathy coinciding with the approval of one’s feelings. I believe it is possible for a man to approve, as in to understand where one’s hurt and emotions come from, in almost all situations but to sympathize takes effort. Sympathy requires a deeper understanding of another’s experience. We may always be able to approve or not, but to show or not show compassion takes us to a new level of understanding. Take for example, the case of the stranger Smith talks about whose father recently passes away. Here Smith writes, “We have learned, however, from experience, that such a misfortune naturally excites such a degree of sorrow, and we know that if we took time to consider his situation, fully and in all its parts, we should, without doubt, most sincerely sympathize with him” (18). From this example, I take that sympathy requires a certain degree of “experience.” Say for instance, that I, in my past, have been hit by car. From this experience I truly know and understand the pain and terror the situation may have caused me. Someone who has never encountered such a tragic situation will never be able to fully sympathize with me. They may only imagine and approve, implying a basic level of understanding, my experience. Nevertheless, if I were to witness a close friend of mines being hit by a car now, my personal experience of the same circumstance, despite how fast the car was going and where my friend was hit by the car, would allow me to really recognize her/his suffering. Therefore, a distinction between true and surface-based sympathy must be made for one's own comprehension and judgment.