Empathie et esthésie: Un retour aux origines esthétiques

This study proposes to look deeper into the aesthetic understanding of the term empathy, that designates the relation a subject can entertain with an object, a work of art and the surrounding world. This aesthetic conception is at the very origin of the word Einfühlung or empathy, that first appeared in 1873 under the pen of Robert Vischer. With reference to the founding work of this theoretician, and also to a number of other studies from the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, we shall study the sensory nature of empathy. Juxtaposition of this concept with other notions such as synesthesia, aperception and fantasy will enable us to specify it further and to explore the conscious/unconscious dimension envisaged by these aestheticians with regard to empathy. © Presses Universitaires de France.