This paper aims to examine the core of Hume's theory of sympathy and empiricism by focusing on the way in which Deleuze creates his theory of sympathy based on his original interpretation of Hume. Furthermore, we seek to devise a new mode of literary theory, which is strongly informed by the creative encounter between sympathy and empiricism. For this project, beyond the limitation of the traditional understanding of empiricism, we newly define Hume's empiricism as the art of generating, maintaining, transforming and expanding the power of "vivacity." In this new definition, Hume's empiricism does not simply refer to a mode of thought that privileges the impression over the ideas, but also the faculty of thought/feeling to stimulate a new vivacity from memory, idea, and habit, and furthermore, transform it into the vital power of creative and diverse practices in life. Based on the new understanding of Hume's empiricism, we argue that the core of his theory of sympathy is to convert the new vivacity into the power of invention that can construct the creative community in ethical and aesthetical sense.

In the case of Deleuze, who interprets Hume as the great thinker of “the relation of immanence,” sympathy comes to be a principle of connection based on the dynamic flow of differences in life and the logic of “AND.” Based on the theory of the relation of immanence, Deleuze offers the mode of resonance in the experience of sympathy, which can overcome the violence of the perverse gaze in the mode of male-centered sympathy.

Inspired by Hume's and Deleuze's theory of sympathy, we investigate  creative ways of writing that is informed by the spirit of empiricism. Such styles of writing can powerfully express the real of life with vivacious aesthetic language, eradicating the empty bubble of abstract idealism and affirming the free flow of differences. Referring to the innovative literary techniques and profound understanding of life in the works of Samuel Richardson, Jane Austen and Laurence Sterne, this paper explores the creative but overlooked connection between literature and empiricism. 

Key Words

Sympathy, Empiricism, Vivacity, Impression, Ideas, Habit, Writing, Hume, Deleuze