 Empathy. We have seen that part of what it means for a social act to be happy is that the addressee grasps the act that is addressed to her. This presupposes the ability of understanding others and their mental states, which invites the question of how, in general, that is possible. An initial answer to this question is provided by Lipps, who adopts the notion of empathy (Einfühlung) from debates in aesthetics and claims that empathy is the specific experience, which enables social understanding. Empathy, according to Lipps, relies on two innate drives: a drive to imitate others and a drive to express mental states. On Lipps’ view, I understand that the other is sad, when the following happens: First, I should be aware that, whenever I am sad, an inner drive leads me to express sadness. Second, when I see the other’s face, this triggers the drive of imitating his expression in me. Because in my mental life, that facial expression has constantly been linked with sadness, having that expression induces sadness in me. By feeling sad with the other, I project sadness onto him (Lipps 1907a).