Suffering

Larry McKinney reminisces: During the harrowing years of the American Civil War, the College of William and Mary (VA), founded in 1693 as the third oldest college in North America, emptied its buildings to supply young soldiers to the cause. Between 1861 and 1865, no students sat in classrooms, no professors prepared lectures, no books [...]

This is my attempt to summarise the key elements of Epicurus’ philosophy, without critique. There are, however, obvious aspects of his philosophy which call for such a critique, e.g. his over-reliance on empiricism (inadequate epistemology), his deism, his life-after-death-denying materialism and concept of self-achieved pleasure rather than of a blessedness that comes from God alone. [...]

The German philosopher Nietzsche said, “Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.” Lord Byron said, “And if I laugh at any mortal thing, ‘Tis that I may not weep.” While these statements betray a deep-seated pessimism, they reflect a key [...]

Scientific research conducted at the University of Southern California has resulted in the claim that fast-moving virtual games and online news feeds may be encouraging indifference to human suffering: In a media culture in which violence and suffering become an endless show, indifference to the vision of human suffering gradually sets in. This research was [...]

The preacher was wanting to drive home the significance of Christ’s work of salvation. So he started his sermon by seeking to show that the world is in a mess. He sought to back this up with an appeal to the news. News is full of the world’s misery, he went on. Wars, terrorist attacks, [...]

In a chanting book received from a Thai Buddhist temple there is a section entitled "The Five Subjects for Frequent Recollection". The first four of these concern suffering and the fifth, clearly related, concerns kamma (karma). The four concerning suffering are as follows: I am of the nature to age (or decay), I have not [...]

In his commentary on 1 & 2 Samuel Bill Arnold relates what happened to French philosopher Emile Cailliet. During World War 1, as a 20-year old youth, he was confronted with the horrors of war. He asked: What use, the ill-kept ancient type of sophistry in the philosophic banter of the seminar, when your buddy [...]

After hearing God’s great address Job says, My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:6) Well, his friends had been telling Job that his sufferings were caused by sin, hadn’t they? And he had countered by insisting that [...]

Traditionally, many have described Australian cultural identity in a way that stresses and often even encourages self-reliance. Russell Ward speaks of the myth of the “typical Australian”: a practical man, rough and ready in his manners and quick to decry any appearance of affectation in others. He is a great improviser, ever willing to ‘have [...]