EMPATHY AND INTERSUBJECTIVITY. SEVERAL REFLECTIONS ABOUT THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND DIVERSE EVOLUTIONS

Starting with a review of the literature, the authors put the notions of empathy and intersubjectivity into perspective and propose to distinguish a primary and a secondary level for each one as a function, notably, of the greater or lesser affective or cognitive dimension of the developmental processes at stake. The neuropsychological bases (with particular attention given to mirror neurons) and the psychodynamics Of empathy and of intersubjectivity are thus called to mind before ice discuss a preliminary application of these notions to a better comprehension of early depressive organizations and autistic functioning.