Abstract This paper investigates the phenomenon of empathy as a necessary condition for the establishment of human–robot intersubjectivity within the context of social robotics. Drawing upon the phenomenological analyses of empathy by Husserl and Stein, as well as Sartre’s account of being-looked-at, the paper demonstrates how empathy can arise in human–robot relationships, particularly through the perception of the robot’s gaze. The argument is substantiated by recent empirical research in Human–Robot Interaction (HRI), which highlights the significant influence of robot gaze on human emotions and behavior. The perception of a robot’s eyes, especially in the Gestalt configuration of “eyes-on-a-face,” can elicit basic empathic responses, while the recognition of its artificial nature calls for reflective processes of complex empathy. To account for these dynamics, the paper adopts a posthuman perspective that emphasizes the permeability of boundaries between humans and technologies. Drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s ontology of the flesh and developing the notions of extended corporeality and transcorporeal analogy , the paper argues that empathy toward robots arises from the intertwining of similarity and difference across heterogeneous embodiments. Robots thus appear not merely as passive tools but as socially relevant agents, with significant implications for the design and deployment of social robotics in care, education, and companionship.
Floriana Ferro (Tue,) studied this question.