I think the article invites us to think of how strongly we couple the concepts of empathy and ethics. I think the article makes a reasonable argument that reall

I think the article invites us to think of how strongly we couple the concepts of empathy and ethics. I think the article makes a reasonable argument that really empathy and ethical behavior are only related, and that one does not lead to the other (or that one is required for the other really). And that's even before we consider that ethics is essentially an axiomatic system - you create an ethical framework by setting up axioms about what is good and bad (or what is better or worse), and then extrapolate. In fact when we look a bit closer, we can easily see the divide. Empathy is about your ability to relate, understand, feel the circumstances of another individual. Ethics is about determining what are better and worse courses of actions. They are nothing at all alike. Another point that the article brings up that I think it very much worth re-iterating is that boxing away Stalin (and related figures...) away as being psychopaths is a cop-out to ourselves. It's a way for us to cut off our own empathy.