2026 Theses Doctoral

Reconceptualizing Pity for Moral and Social Justice Education

Cardoza, Emy N.

The purpose of this dissertation is to complicate the popular understanding of empathy through an examination of the philosophical history of pity. By reconceptualizing its key features, I argue that pity can provide a clearer understanding of the function and limitations of empathy, particularly in the context of moral and social justice education.

This dissertation highlights three characteristics of pity that critically engage with some of the major concerns with pity (e.g. condescension and moral passivity) and presents an increasingly complex way of thinking of the relationship between oneself and the other: 1) the unique moral work of pity, 2) pity as a bridge between the universal and the particular, and 3) pity as a recognition of positionality.

Ultimately, this dissertation argues that pity is morally beneficial for shaping one’s orientation to justice. While it does not trump all altruistic dispositions, pity engages in moral work that sympathy, compassion, and empathy do not. Without it, our understanding of the complexity of moral life diminishes.