The question of what leads us to respond with sensitive care to another’s suffering has been of particular interest to philosophers and to developmental and social psychologists seeking to understand and promote prosocial action. The goal of these researchers is not to explain a particular form of knowledge but to explain a particular form of action: action by one person that effectively addresses the need of another. Those using empathy to answer this question are apt to say that empathic feelings for the other—feelings of sympathy, compassion, tenderness, and the like—produce motivation to relieve the suffering of the person for whom empathy is felt