At the core of ethics: a command that one try to imagine what it might be like to be someone else. (Alain de Botton).

This is the very basis of collective human life. Without empathy and the ability to put yourself in other people’s shoes, all you have is a large collection of selfish and self-regarding “human” animals, albeit with bigger brains than most other life forms.

Epicureanism stands (aside from other things) for getting along with one another in peace and harmony. You cannot achieve this without the ability to imagine what it might be like to be someone else.