I neuroni specchio, l'empatia e la coscienza

The discovery of mirror neurons, as biological basis for the understanding of others’ actions and emotions, seems to give empirical confirmation to the phenomenological paradigm as to the notions of «empathy» and «consciousness». This is a perspective ontologically and empistemologically close to the ‘neurophenomenological’ one of F. Varela: neuroscience and phenomenology compare to each other and integrate. It is useful then to investigate such relation also from a methodological point of view: phenomenology, as remarked by the chilean philosopher, can strenghten and make precise the self-descriptions of the states of consciousness.