EigoPro 1級 読解 — The Spotlight and the Floodlight: Reconsidering Empathy as Moral Compass

It is an article of faith in much of contemporary culture that empathy—the capacity to feel what another person feels—lies at the heart of morality. To cultivate it is supposedly to become a better person; to lack it is treated as a species of pathology. Yet the psychologist Paul Bloom has mounted a provocative dissent, contending that empathy, far from being an infallible moral compass, frequently leads us astray. His argument is not that we should be callous, but that we should be discerning about which faculties we entrust with our weightiest decisions. Bloom's central metaphor is illuminating: empathy functions like a spotlight, intensely illuminating a single figure while leaving the surrounding multitude in darkness. We are moved by the identifiable victim—the child trapped in a well, the named refugee—yet remain numb to statistics, however catastrophic the numbers. Because empathy is innately partial, it amplifies the suffering of those who resemble us and dims our concern for distant strangers whose faces we never see. Worse, it can be weaponised: demagogues routinely exploit our empathy for an in-group to legitimise cruelty toward an out-group cast as a threat, dressing aggression in the language of protection. The corrective Bloom proposes is what he terms rational compassion, a deliberate, principled concern for others' welfare that is not hostage to the vagaries of who happens to capture our attention. Compassion, unlike empathy, scales: it can weigh the many against the few without being paralysed by visceral identification with any one of them. Critics counter that empathy supplies the very motivation reason lacks, and that a coldly utilitarian calculus risks becoming inhuman, indifferent to the texture of individual lives. Bloom concedes the point partially, yet insists that humane policy demands we resist the tyranny of the salient. The wiser course, he suggests, is to let empathy alert us to suffering while reason adjudicates how best to relieve it, harnessing feeling without surrendering judgement to it.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the central claim the passage attributes to Paul Bloom?

  • Empathy, despite its esteemed reputation, is an unreliable basis for important moral decisions and should be supplemented by reasoned compassion.
  • Empathy and reason are fundamentally incompatible, so one must abandon emotion to act morally.
  • Empathy is a form of pathology that morally healthy people should strive to eliminate entirely.
  • Empathy is the indispensable foundation of all morality and cannot be improved upon by reason.
Phrase

empathy, far from being an infallible moral compass, frequently leads us astray

1級読解主旨把握論旨
⚡ひとことで

Bloom は共感を完全に否定するのではなく、重大な道徳的判断の基盤として信頼できないと主張する。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Empathy, despite its esteemed reputation, is an unreliable basis for important moral decisions and should be supplemented by reasoned compassion.」

正解

本文は "empathy, far from being an infallible moral compass, frequently leads us astray" と述べ、Bloom が共感を重大な判断の指針として疑問視していることを示す。同時に "His argument is not that we should be callous" とあり、共感の全面否定ではない。彼は理性に基づく compassion で補うべきだと説く。

  • 「Empathy is a form of pathology that all morally healthy people should strive to eliminate from their own moral lives entirely.」

    = 共感は病理であり完全に排除すべきだ ━ 本文は "to lack it is treated as a species of pathology" を一般通念として紹介しており、Bloom 自身の主張ではない。排除を説いてもいない。。

  • 「Empathy and reason are fundamentally incompatible, so one must abandon emotion to act morally.」

    = 道徳的に行動するには感情を捨て理性のみに頼るべきだ ━ 本文末は "let empathy alert us to suffering while reason adjudicates" と両者の協働を説き、二者択一を否定する。。

  • 「Empathy is the indispensable foundation of all morality and cannot be improved upon by reason.」

    = 共感こそ全道徳の基盤で改善の余地はない ━ これは Bloom が "provocative dissent" として反対する立場そのものであり、彼の主張ではない。。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
lead someone astray人を誤った方向へ導くUnchecked emotion can lead even good people astray.
an article of faith固く信じられている信条Free-market efficiency is an article of faith for many economists.
mount a dissent異議を唱えるSeveral justices mounted a vigorous dissent against the ruling.
at the heart of～の中核にTrust lies at the heart of every lasting alliance.
entrust someone with～を人に委ねるVoters entrust elected officials with enormous power.
❝例文

  • The map led the hikers astray into impassable terrain.

    その地図は登山者を通行不能な地形へと誤って導いた。

  • Punctuality is an article of faith in their corporate culture.

    時間厳守は彼らの企業文化における固い信条だ。

  • The columnist mounted a sharp dissent from the prevailing view.

    そのコラムニストは大勢の見解に鋭い異議を唱えた。

  • Compassion sits at the heart of his philosophy.

    思いやりが彼の哲学の中核にある。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問では、本文が紹介する一般通念と筆者が支持する主張を混同しないこと。Bloom は "not that we should be callous" と明言し、極端な立場(全否定・全肯定)はすべて誤答になりやすい。

問 2

According to the passage, why does empathy resemble a spotlight?

  • It can be switched on and off at will whenever a moral decision becomes inconvenient.
  • It distributes our concern evenly and impartially across everyone affected by a tragedy.
  • It illuminates statistics more vividly than it illuminates any individual person.
  • It intensely focuses concern on a single identifiable individual while leaving the larger group of sufferers in relative darkness.
Phrase

empathy functions like a spotlight, intensely illuminating a single figure while leaving the surrounding multitude in darkness

1級読解詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

スポットライトの比喩は、共感が一人の特定の人物に集中し、群衆を暗闇に残すことを表す。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「It intensely focuses concern on a single identifiable individual while leaving the larger group of sufferers in relative darkness.」

正解

本文は "empathy functions like a spotlight, intensely illuminating a single figure while leaving the surrounding multitude in darkness" と述べる。続けて "We are moved by the identifiable victim ... yet remain numb to statistics" と説明し、特定の個人に焦点が偏ることを比喩で示している。

  • 「It can be switched on and off at will whenever a moral decision becomes inconvenient.」

    = 都合に応じて自在に点けたり消したりできる ━ 本文の比喩は焦点の偏りを表すもので、意図的な点滅の話ではない。共感は "innately partial" と述べられている。。

  • 「It illuminates statistics more vividly than it illuminates any individual person.」

    = 個人より統計を鮮やかに照らし出す ━ 本文は逆で "remain numb to statistics" と述べ、統計には鈍感だとする。。

  • 「It distributes our concern evenly and quite impartially across everyone who is affected by any such tragedy at all.」

    = 被害者全員に均等かつ公平に関心を配る ━ スポットライトの要点は不均等な照射であり、"however catastrophic the numbers" な統計が暗闇に残る点にある。。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
leave someone in the dark人を暗闇に/情報なく置くManagement left the staff in the dark about the merger.
be moved by～に心を動かされるAudiences were deeply moved by the survivor's testimony.
remain numb to～に無感覚なままであるWe can remain numb to figures we cannot picture.
the identifiable victim特定できる被害者Charities feature the identifiable victim to spur donations.
resemble us私たちに似ているWe instinctively favour those who resemble us.
❝例文

  • The spotlight fell on one dancer as the chorus faded into shadow.

    スポットライトは一人の踊り手に当たり、コーラスは影に消えた。

  • Donors were moved by a single photograph more than by the death toll.

    寄付者は死者数より一枚の写真に心を動かされた。

  • Officials remained numb to warnings buried in spreadsheets.

    当局は表計算に埋もれた警告に無感覚なままだった。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

比喩の設問では、比喩が何を強調するために使われているかを問う。ここでは「焦点の偏り(一人 vs 群衆)」が核心で、点滅や均等配分といった無関係な属性は誤答。

問 3

What does the passage say demagogues do with empathy?

  • They suppress all empathy in the population so that no one can feel compassion for victims.
  • They redirect empathy toward distant strangers to weaken loyalty within the in-group.
  • They exploit people's empathy for their own in-group to justify cruelty toward an out-group portrayed as a threat.
  • They rely on rational compassion rather than empathy to mobilise their followers.
Phrase

demagogues routinely exploit our empathy for an in-group to legitimise cruelty toward an out-group cast as a threat

1級読解詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

扇動者は内集団への共感を利用し、脅威とされる外集団への残虐行為を正当化する。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「They exploit people's empathy for their own in-group to justify cruelty toward an out-group portrayed as a threat.」

正解

本文は "demagogues routinely exploit our empathy for an in-group to legitimise cruelty toward an out-group cast as a threat" と明記する。これは共感が "weaponised" されうる例として挙げられており、内集団への共感が外集団への加害の口実になる構図を示す。

  • 「They suppress all empathy in the population so that no one at all can feel compassion for the victims.」

    = 住民の共感をすべて抑え込む ━ 本文は共感を「抑える」のではなく「利用(exploit)」すると述べている。。

  • 「They redirect empathy toward distant strangers to weaken loyalty within the in-group.」

    = 共感を遠い他者へ向け内集団の結束を弱める ━ 本文は内集団への共感を強める方向であり、遠方の他者への転換ではない。共感はもともと "distant strangers" には弱い。。

  • 「They rely on rational compassion rather than empathy to mobilise their followers.」

    = 扇動には共感でなく理性的思いやりを用いる ━ rational compassion は Bloom が提案する是正策であり、扇動者の手段ではない。。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
exploit something～を不当に利用するScammers exploit the trust of the elderly.
legitimise cruelty残虐行為を正当化するPropaganda can legitimise cruelty in wartime.
cast as a threat脅威として描き出すMinorities are often cast as a threat by populists.
an in-group / out-group内集団/外集団Tribal politics sharpens the in-group versus out-group divide.
be weaponised武器として利用されるMisinformation can be weaponised against rivals.
❝例文

  • Politicians exploited fear to push the new law.

    政治家は恐怖を利用して新法を推し進めた。

  • The regime legitimised its purges with manufactured plots.

    政権はでっち上げの陰謀で粛清を正当化した。

  • Refugees were unfairly cast as a threat to jobs.

    難民は不当に雇用への脅威として描かれた。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

"exploit" と "suppress" を取り違えないこと。扇動者は共感を無くすのではなく、内集団に偏らせて利用する。本文の動詞を正確に追うのが鍵。

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