Empathy is commonly defined as one’s ability to recognize, perceive and directly experientially feel the emotion of another.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy

_1. the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
2. the imaginative ascribing to an object, as a natural object or work of art, feelings or attitudes present in oneself: By means of empathy, a great painting becomes a mirror of the self._
http://dictionary.reference.com/search/?q=empathy

Empathy manifest itself through intellectual means and/or feelings.

What are the links [and differences] between empathy and love?