Sociological theories of morality have grown in prevalence over the last decade and a half. These theories often focus on developing single concepts such as identity, reputation or emotion, or they provide sweeping historical accounts. Such theories often also take the construct of empathy for granted, as an inevitable consequence of morality. Here, I present a mechanistic theory of empathy which operates at multiple levels of analysis. The approach offered can help frame particular topics in the sociology of morality, though it is also robust enough to analyse historical change. Specifically, the theory presented here is composed of sets of situational, structural and societal mechanisms. Each set is discussed, as well as their relation to one another, before turning to an explication of how the present theory relates to a selective sampling of prominent theories in the contemporary sociology of morality.

中文翻译：

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走向共情的社会学理论

在过去的十五年中，道德的社会学理论日益流行。这些理论通常侧重于开发诸如身份，声誉或情感之类的单个概念，或者它们提供了详尽的历史记载。这种理论通常也将移情的建构视为理所当然，这是道德的必然结果。在这里，我提出了一种共情的机制理论，该理论在多个层面上进行分析。所提供的方法可以帮助构建道德社会学中的特定主题，尽管它也足够强大，可以分析历史变化。具体而言，此处介绍的理论由情境，结构和社会机制集组成。讨论了每一组，以及它们之间的关系，