Empathy as a psycho-spiritual interface

Georges Maalouly's article examines empathy as a phenomenon situated at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and Orthodox Christian spirituality. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the author, a physician by training, articulates contemporary data on the neuro-psychic and emotional functioning of the human being with the theological tradition of deification. The central idea argues that empathy does not constitute a simple affective or relational mechanism, but an authentic interface between the anthropological structure of man and his orientation toward God. The theological contribution of this study lies in the demonstration that the process of theosis cannot disregard the emotional and neuropsychic dimension of the human person, thus inviting a more integral understanding of Orthodox anthropology, attentive to the findings of contemporary human and medical sciences.