Simulation theorists (Goldman, Gordon) hold that empathy operates by running one's own emotional machinery in another's imagined situation, making self-other blending constitutive rather than disqualifying.

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Emotional machinery(as the part of yourself that simulation theorists say you use to understand others): Your brain's natural system for producing and processing emotions—the mental structures and processes that create feelings.
Empathy: Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person—essentially putting yourself in their shoes to grasp what they're experiencing emotionally. It means recognizing someone's emotions and caring about their experience, rather than just knowing about their situation intellectually. Empathy helps us connect with others, communicate with compassion, and respond to people's needs in meaningful ways.
Goldman(the philosopher credited with this approach): Alvin Goldman is a contemporary American philosopher who developed reliabilism as a major theory about how we know things.
Gordon(as an example of a simulation theorist): Robert Gordon, a philosopher who also developed simulation theory independently, arguing that empathy works through mentally role-playing another person's situation.

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