Volume 4, No 2, Fall 2009 ISSN 1932-1066

Human Suffering as a Challenge for the Meaning of Life

Ulrich Diehl
Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
[email protected]

Abstract: When people suffer they always suffer as a whole human being. The emotional, cognitive and
spiritual suffering of human beings cannot be completely separated from all other kinds of suffering, such as
from harmful natural, ecological, political, economic and social conditions. In reality they interact with each
other and influence each other. Human beings do not only suffer from somatic illnesses, physical pain, and the
lack of decent opportunities to satisfy their basic vital, social and emotional needs. They also suffer when they
are not able to experience and grasp any meaning of life even if such suffering is not quite as obvious as most
forms of physical, social and emotional suffering. Suffering from the lack for the sense of the meaning of life is
a special form of emotional, cognitive, and spiritual suffering. Although all human beings share the same basic
human need for some meaning of life, the fulfilment of this need is highly individual and personal. Although
all forms of human suffering can be a challenge to the meaning of life, the personal conditions of suffering
usually are a stronger challenge for the meaning of life. Among the personal conditions of human suffering,
the Grenzsituationen cannot be cancelled or raised at all, but only accepted and coped with as existential aspects
of the conditio humana. According to Karl Jaspers these are: death, suffering, struggling, guilt, and failing. The
challenge for human beings to cope with these Grenzsituationen is a way to move from the mere Being-there to
true human Existence.1

Any Ethics of Suffering would be incomplete without a empirical psychology is not in a completely different
contribution about emotional, cognitive and spiritual position from philosophical psychology. After all
suffering. The following contribution is coming from empirical psychology is always forced to make some
philosophical psychology rather than from empirical theoretical or philosophical assumptions about the
psychology. Although there are some important nature of the human soul and personal being and these
differences between the arm chair reflections of basic assumptions are not only controversial, but they
philosophical psychology and the various methods of must go beyond what is empirical and observable.
empirical psychology in the way how they approach In Plato's dialogue Phaidros (270a f), Socrates is
and treat psychological phenomena, with respect to teaching a young friend who wants to study the art of
understanding human suffering and other aspects of rhetoric that the true master of rhetoric has to know the
personal being and the nature of the human soul nature of the human soul. In order to illustrate his

1 Presented 2003 in Rome, Italy at the International Conference on The Ethics of Suffering, International Academy of Philosophy (IAP), Liechtenstein.
Existenz: An International Journal in Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts 37

suggestion he is comparing the study of the soul with within management, the weakening of the political
the study of the human body in the art of healing or power of national governments), (e) harmful social
medicine. Socrates is explaining what Hippocrates conditions (inability to satisfy basic human needs, such
taught about studying the nature of the body or the as hunger and thirst, hygiene, shelter and clothing,
nature of anything else: Whenever we have to study the security from aggression and crime), (f) harmful
nature of something we have to think about the emotional conditions (inability to satisfy one's
question whether we are confronted with something emotional needs for company, belonging and
which is uniform or rather with something which is acceptance, the need for decent work, perspectives for
manifold. Accordingly, when we study the nature of one's future and self-respect through the freedom of
the human soul we have at first to investigate, whether self-determination), (g) harmful cognitive and spiritual
the human soul is one and the same and therefore conditions (inability to understand the natural and
behaving similarly at all occasions or whether it is social world we live in, the inability to understand the
manifold like the form of the human body. Secondly, conditio humana, i.e. the special position of human
we have to find out what the human soul is causing to beings within the world equipped with the abilities for
what according to its nature and from what it is the acquisition of language and thought, of
receiving which kinds of effects itself. This remarkable communication and community, of labor and
piece of Platonic dialogue is rejecting the common cooperation, of love and self-transcendence through
prejudice that Plato's approach to the human soul or labour, art, science and religion), and (h) inability to
psyche is merely pre-scientific and therefore inferior to experience and grasp some meaning of life.
the methods of contemporary psychology, It is mainly due to the psychiatrist Viktor Frankl
psychotherapy, and psychiatry. that modern psychology, psychotherapy, and
psychiatry took notice of this very special human need.
External Conditions of Human Suffering According to Frankl lacking any sense for some
meaning of life is a fundamental form of emotional,
There are various forms of human suffering and there cognitive and spiritual suffering. The word "some" is
are several ways of distinguishing between different not unimportant in this context because we would
kinds of human suffering. Perhaps one of the most if misunderstand Frankl by assuming that there is the
not the most reliable, effective and adequate way of meaning of life for all human beings. Although Frankl
distinguishing between different kinds of human was convinced that all men and women share the same
suffering is by their external causes, i.e. by the need for meaning in their lives, he did not assume that
determinable causes outside of the individual body, the there is one unique, final and universal source of
emotional self, the cognitive self and the mind of a meaning or even only one and the same source for all
person. At least this the way we think about these human beings. Frankl rather considered of the meaning
issues in modern empirical psychology. of life in such a way that he realized the personal and
People may suffer from a variety of circumstances, individual fulfilment of this fundamental human need
such as (a) harmful natural conditions (earthquakes, under the special, concrete and contingent conditions of
volcanic eruptions and bush fires, hurricanes, tornados one's personal and social situation.
and other extreme weather conditions), (b) harmful In the same section of Plato's Phaidros (270a f),
ecological conditions (radioactive or chemical where Socrates is comparing the art of rhetoric with the
contamination of the atmosphere and landscape in a art of healing, he asks his young friend, who is very
certain geographic region including people, animals enthusiastic about rhetoric, "Do you think that one can
and plants, food and water, or biological contamination understand the nature of the soul without
with viruses or bacteria causing epidemics), (c) harmful understanding the nature of the whole?" His disciple
political conditions (dictatorship or anarchy, war or answers: "If one may believe the Asclepiad Hippocrates
terrorist attacks, bad government, the absence of a one cannot even understand something about the body
modern constitution and a legal state which guarantees without this approach." Socrates is agreeing with
basic human rights, law and order), (d) harmful Hippocrates about this matter. But he is also insisting
economic conditions (lack of economic growth, that this is not correct because the unquestionable
unemployment and inflation, the untamed authority of Hippocrates, but rather because of the
globalization of the market, evasive international authority of reason. Therefore both approaches are
companies, lack of social and economic responsibility

http://www.bu.edu/paideia/existenz Volume 4, No 2, Fall 2009

Existenz: An International Journal in Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts 38

necessary and complementary to each other: the holistic of the world people live in, the relationship between
approach of trying to understand the nature of the emotional, cognitive, and spiritual suffering and the outer
whole and the analytic approach of trying to conditions of suffering is somewhat more complicated.
distinguish the elements of nature. According to In his Encheiridion the Stoic philosopher Epictetus
Socrates this is even independent of the special field of remarks: "It is not so much the things in themselves
knowledge: whether one is trying to understand the which disturb human beings, but rather the conceptions
nature of the soul as in the art of rhetoric or whether of things" (section 5). There are many approaches and
one is trying to understand the nature of the body as in many leading figures in modern psychology,
the art of healingwhich amounts to be knowing, psychotherapy, and psychiatry that accept this rather
understanding and treating the body. old psychological insight. Philosophically speaking it
According to Plato's idea of the mutual dependence means to accept the anthropological insight that human
of the holistic and the analytic understanding it would beings are hermeneutic beings, i.e. they are able to
not make much sense to separate emotional, cognitive interpret one and the same situation in different ways.
and spiritual suffering completely from all other kinds To accept this does not mean to question or even
of human suffering. When people suffer they always deny the existence of the external world or the existence
suffer as whole human beings in the natural, social and of various ontological structures of the world
political world they live in. Therefore, if Plato is right independent of the human mind and consciousness. It
we may assume that harmful natural, ecological, also does not mean that human beings constitute or
political, economic and social conditions always have create the external world they live in, as contemporary
some effect on the emotional, cognitive and spiritual constructivists think. Since there are radical and
conditions of people. People normally suffer more or moderate constructivists, biological constructivists
less emotionally, cognitively and spiritually from (Umberto Maturana and Francisco Varela) and
harmful natural, ecological, political, economic and psychological constructivists (Paul Watzlawick or
social conditions. For example, in a region of the world Heinz von Frster) we have to distinguish between
which is haunted by natural catastrophes or ecological certain varieties of constructivism. Nevertheless it is
damage, by dictatorship or anarchy, by wars or common to all of them that they claim that there is
terrorism, by cultural or political crises, by bad some sort of construction of objects, events and state of
economies or insufficient health care systems people affairs within the world and they consequently deny
normally get more and more frustrated emotionally, the existence of an external and ontologically structured
cognitively, and spiritually. reality independent of human consciousness, language
If Plato is right, however we may also assume vice and thought. In this sense they oppose all forms of
versa that emotional, cognitive and spiritual suffering epistemological or ontological realism (nave, critical
has some effect on the natural, ecological, political, and metaphysical realism).2
economic and social conditions people have to live by. To accept this anthropological insight also does not
Without a certain emotional, cognitive and spiritual mean that Kant's transcendental idealism regarding
strength human beings normally do not have the space, time, and objects within the world is convincing
psychological and spiritual resources to fight, control when he is assuming that they are essentially
and overcome the harmful living conditions whether constituted by the common human subjectivity of
they are natural, ecological, political, economic or social appearance and understanding. It merely means to
conditions. For example, without any intelligence, accept that two or more human beings do not only
fairness, courage and truthfulness, without any faith, have a different individual perceptual perspective on
love and hope they do not have the personal qualities one and the same object, event or situation within the
necessary to overcome the challenges they have to face world depending on their actual and contingent
by unavoidable natural catastrophes or by man-made position in space and time. They usually also have a
ecological damage, by cruel dictatorship or political different individual emotional, cognitive and spiritual
anarchy, by numerous wars or by terrorist attacks, by
certain cultural or political crises, by the downfalls of 2 A useful collection of essays on contemporary constructivism is:
economies or by the insufficiencies of health care systems. Paul Watzlawick (ed.), Die erfundene Wirklichkeit. Wie wissen
Although there surely are such causal connections wir, was wir zu wissen glauben? Beitrge zum Konstruktivismus
between human suffering and the conditions of the region (Mnchen/Zrich: Piper Verlag 1997), pp. 16f; 39f; 91f, and 294f.

http://www.bu.edu/paideia/existenz Volume 4, No 2, Fall 2009

Existenz: An International Journal in Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts 39

understanding of one and the same object, event or In his famous eleventh Feuerbach-Thesis, Marx
situation within the world depending on the actual and proclaimed: "The philosophers have only interpreted
contingent conditions of their individual emotional, the world, but it is necessary to change it."3 This famous
cognitive, and spiritual self. dictum however is faulty for at least three reasons: (a) It
This is the main reason why individual people can is not possible for us as human beings to change the
cope, react and act in different, various and individual whole world, but only to change certain aspects of and
ways when confronted with the same harmful situations within rather small regions of the world. (b)
conditions of human suffering in the real world. For It is not really necessary to change certain aspects of
example, some may react to one and the same situation and situations within the world, but to improve them,
with frustration, passivity, and depression; others may because whenever we change something we can also
react with vigilance, activity, and responsibility. For this make things worse rather than to improve them. (c) It is
reason there is a certain individuality and subjectivity not possible to improve certain aspects of and
and therefore even a certain independence of emotional, situations within the world without interpretation,
cognitive, and spiritual suffering with respect to real understanding and knowing those aspects and
and determinate outer sources or harmful conditions. situations.
To accept these philosophical insights about the This is leading to the opposite advice of the one
epistemic positions of individual human beings does given by Karl Marx: Before we can improve certain
not necessarily lead to epistemic or even ethical aspects of and situations within the world, we need
scepticism, subjectivism, or relativism. For despite of philosophers and scientists, politicians and economists,
these psychological facts about the epistemic position of judges and medical doctors who can interpret,
human beings in situations of real life they can still understand and explain them adequately. This is
make true or false factual judgments about the state of certainly true for the external conditions of human
affairs within the world and right or wrong ethical suffering. Sometimes, but not always it is also true for
judgments about their courses of action. Factual truth the personal conditions of human suffering. Given
and the ethical correctness can neither be questioned by Plato's approach, Epictetus' advice and a rather
the facts of perceptual perspectivity nor by the facts of dialectical view about the complex connections
the individuality of emotional, cognitive, and spiritual between the emotional, cognitive and spiritual
understanding. suffering of human beings and its outer conditions we
Another well-known aphorism in the Encheiridion can now have a closer look at the personal conditions of
of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus distinguishes human suffering themselves.
between things that are in our control and others that
are not in our control. "Under our control is our Personal Conditions of Human Suffering
thinking, our actions, our inclinations, our aversions,
shortly: everything which is coming from ourselves. Another effective and reliable way of classifying
Not under our control is our body, our property, our various forms of human suffering is to distinguish
prestige, our outer position with one word, them by their immediate and concrete sources within
everything which is not coming from our selves" human beings themselves. Accordingly we can
(section 1). Epictetus advice is: "What one cannot distinguish, discover and investigate four types of
change, one must accept." This piece of advice however internal personal conditions of human suffering: First,
might be supplemented by the opposite advice: "What there are conditions of human suffering within the
one can change, one must not accept." Indeed, most of physical body, such as an ordinary tooth ache, a pain
the time one only can find out how much can be caused by a broken arm or a wound hurting after an
changed as one attempts to change it. But the operation. Second, there are human suffering
sophisticated art of reasonable decision-making in conditions within the emotional self such as normal
situations where one is confronted with and challenged frustration, good and bad stress, mourning, feelings of
by some sources of human suffering, as e.g. in politics
and economy, in law and medicine does not only 3 Karl Marx, "German Ideology, A. Theses about Feuerbach,
amount to changing the world, but rather to improving 11," transl. by the author from: "Die Deutsche Ideologie
it. Therefore one might even say: Changing is easy; (1845/46), A. Thesen ber Feuerbach, 11," in: Die Frhschriften
improving is difficult. (Stuttgart: Krner Verlag, 1971), p. 341.

http://www.bu.edu/paideia/existenz Volume 4, No 2, Fall 2009

Existenz: An International Journal in Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts 40

guilt and shame, fear and depression, lack of faith, hope the subjective appearance, presence and
and love. Third, there are human suffering conditions disappearance of some additional reflective awareness
within the cognitive self such as the weakness of one's of human suffering. This means that human beings do
memory, lack of concentration and vigilance, lack of not only suffer from physical pain (similar to other
flexibility and good sense of judgment, the inability to living beings, such as animals with an adequate
understand one's friends, relatives or other people we nervous system within the spinal cord), they also suffer
relate to, or the lack of understanding of the social, from emotional grief, from cognitive failure and
economic and political structures and events. Fourth spiritual sorrow (unlike related living beings, such as
and finally there are conditions of human suffering chimpanzees or dolphins). Although animals do have
within the spiritual self, such as (a) existential anxiety some instinctual and habitual feelings of sorts, human
through lack of self-assertive and self-binding answers feelings do only share some similarities with animal
to such existential questions as: Who am I? Where do I feelings. Apart from these similarities there is a large
come from? Where am I going? What do I want to do variety of culturally and socially shaped human
and realize in my life? What matters the most to me in feelings which we don't find in animals, such as social,
life? What is my personal hierarchy of utilitarian, aesthetic, ethical and religious feelings.
aesthetic, ethical and religious values? Which ethical Finally human beings can suffer from their
ideals, principles, norms and values are most important reflective awareness of all kinds of suffering, such as
to me? (b) When someone is losing faith in the existence physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual suffering.
of God, faith in the potential presence of God, faith in This is not only a quantitative difference or additional
the personal relationship to God or faith in the love and factor among the various ways of human suffering
mercy of God in view of one's shortcomings, failures (especially when compared with higher mammals).
and mistakes. (c) When someone is losing his or her The human capacity to be aware of, to focus on and to
basic trust in life, losing his or her sense of caring about reflect (thinking, understanding and explaining) their
one's life, losing his or her will to live on and to make own human suffering and the suffering of other human
the best out of one's life. In other words there is beings is changing the very quality of human suffering
someone who suffers from the inability to grasp some in many different ways. One well known example is
meaning of life. the change of the intensity of bodily pain, such as a
Such a rather heuristic classification of the internal tooth ache when concentrating on a certain task or
conditions of human suffering do not prevent us from some movie and being distracted in one's self-
the ability to further investigate the various external awareness. There are many other examples that we
forms, reasons and causes of human suffering within know by personal acquaintance and introspection. For
their natural, ecological, political, economic and social details we would have to develop various
circumstances. But it is necessary to distinguish them phenomenological analyses what it is like to be aware
simply because emotional, cognitive and spiritual of, to focus on and reflect the quality, intensity,
suffering usually is highly personal and individualized. duration and sources of internal and external
This means that in many cases external conditions (or conditions of human suffering.
types of conditions) which cause some inner emotional,
cognitive and spiritual suffering for one person do not Human Suffering as an Aspect of
necessarily cause any or at least the same kind of inner the conditio humana
emotional, cognitive and spiritual suffering for another
person despite of the very same external conditions (or After this rather short outlook on the external and
type of conditions). And these internal conditions can personal conditions of human suffering I would like to
cause human suffering independently of and in outline some basic principles of a philosophical
addition to any other external conditions of human anthropology of human suffering. As I have indicated:
suffering, i.e. if there are no concrete and actual reasons Human suffering is very special among the various
and causes to suffer from any external sources or forms of suffering of all sentient beings. Human
conditions of human suffering. consciousness does not only enclose particularly
Moreover any of these immediate and concrete human forms of physical, emotional, cognitive and
internal conditions of human suffering can be spiritual suffering. Potential awareness of, focusing on
determined as necessary and sufficient conditions for and reflection about one's own suffering and the
suffering of other human beings is also influencing,

http://www.bu.edu/paideia/existenz Volume 4, No 2, Fall 2009

Existenz: An International Journal in Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts 41

changing, and shaping the very quality of human of the mythological conception of Man as the crown
suffering. Moreover human consciousness about our own of God's creation and of Man as created within the
suffering and about the suffering of other human beings image of God that we find in the biblical book of
is an essential element of the hermeneutic understanding Genesis. Although this mythological conception of the
of being human within the world. There are mainly relationship between God, Man and the world is
four reasons for this anthropological insight about the containing some adequate insights enshrined in
conditio humana with respect to human suffering: metaphorical language, the philosophical insight
One reason for the special quality of human about the special and unique position of Man among the
suffering is our human nature and it is incarnated in our other living beings on Earth is also adequate and reliable
special position within the world when compared to from a merely empirical and scientific point of view.
other entities as far as we know and understand them: In his famous essay A Problem of Psychoanalysis
As we know by ways of science and philosophy there Sigmund Freud has argued that Copernicus, Darwin
are (1) physical objects and events which are unable to and he, Freud himself have changed the self-
suffer (i.e. suffering in the sense of feeling pain rather understanding of Man within the universe so deeply
than in the sense of undergoing some effected change), that we could no longer consider ourselves to be in a
like all kinds of matter and energy. There are (2) living special position among other creatures on Earth or even
things that grow, age and die, but cannot feel any pain unique within the universe (as far as we know it).4 First,
such as plants or lower animals (without a spinal cord). although Copernicus taught us that the Sun and not the
There are (3) living beings which grow, age and die, Earth is the centre of our sun-system, modern cosmology
breathe, eat and drink, move around, hunt and procreate, is teaching us that we still appear to be in the middle of
which can feel pain and other sensations in their bodies an expanding universe without discoverable spatial
and consciousness, but (a) which cannot feel the same borders. Second, although Darwin taught us that
kind of culture-dependent and socially shaped kinds of humans are preliminary ending products of the
suffering, e.g. like shame or guilt, anxiety or despair, (b) evolutionary development of a manifold of species, our
which are not able to share a similar kind of reflective epistemic situation with respect to the very facts of the
awareness of their own suffering as their own suffering, (c) evolution of nature is still very special and a sound
which are not able to engage in cognitive understanding, ground for uniqueness among all living beings on Earth.
reflecting and explaining of their own suffering while it Third, although Freud taught as that human reason is
is still lasting or afterwards when remembering it. not always and completely the master of human
Another reason for the special quality of human behaviour and actions, our capacity to realize the various
suffering is that as human beings with our particular conflicts between the affectivity and intentionality of
nature we do not only have a special and unique human consciousness as incarnated within our bodies
position among all living beings we know on Earth, but and hearts is putting us in a remarkably different position
we can also be aware of, reflect, understand, explain and compared to all other living beings on Earth. The latter
know about our special and unique position among all insight is as old as ancient Greek philosophy and it is still
living beings (as we know them so far). These additional true in the age of modern cosmology in which we have
epistemic abilities are also transforming our hermeneutic begun to seek for other intelligent living beings within
understanding of the conditio humana because they are the universe. To find some, get in touch with them and
in themselves good reasons to accept the special and communicate with them as non-human persons
unique position among all living beings on Earth (as we however would be a really revolutionary beginning of a
know them) and even within the universe (as far as we new age in the history of human cultures and civilization.
know it). This philosophical insight about the special A further reason for the special quality of human
position and uniqueness of human beings within the suffering is that this knowledge about ourselves as
universe (as far as we know it) however is often denied human beings can change our attitude and behaviour
by many philosophers today because they wrongly towards the suffering of all other sentient beings, i.e.
tend to think that it is incompatible with Darwin's
theory of the evolution of species.
Many naturalist philosophers such as Willard V. O. 4 Sigmund Freud, "Eine Schwierigkeit der Psychoanalyse," in
Quine, Richard Rorty and Daniel C. Dennett think that Abri der Psychoanalyse, Einfhrende Darstellungen (Frankfurt
this notion of man's uniqueness is merely a consequence a. M.: Fischer Verlag 2009), pp. 187-194.

http://www.bu.edu/paideia/existenz Volume 4, No 2, Fall 2009

Existenz: An International Journal in Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts 42

especially towards all kinds of higher animals (with a universal source for the meaning of life for all human
spinal cord) which can feel pain and other sensations beings, all human beings are in need of some meaning.5
and which can have some feelings similar to, but also (2) Meaning is mostly to be found in situations of
different from our own human feelings. Inasmuch as human decision-making, in personal relationships and
we share some sensations and feelings with them we social living conditions. Human beings can and do
usually feel closer to them than to other animals and we share many sources for meaning such as friendship,
feel especially responsible for them. Inasmuch as we marriage and family, raising and educating children,
cannot share all of our sensations and feelings with training and instruction of adults, decent work and
them we usually feel also the distance and alienation responsible behaviour in all kinds of professions,
from them and do have to realize that many forms of research, teaching and self-formation within the arts,
our special human suffering is different from their sciences and religions, responsible positions in
other forms of suffering. education, economy, law and politics, etc.
Finally another reason for the special quality of (3) Meaning is individual and personal in the sense
human suffering is that as human beings we can to some that it is inherent to the concrete and contingent
extent choose an attitude toward and an evaluation of situation of a person within his or her life. Human beings
our own personal human suffering and even more so need to discover it for themselves and others cannot
with respect to the suffering of other human beings; e.g. discover it for them. Moreover meaning is personal and
we can notice or deny it, bear or raise it, tolerate or fight individual because what might be meaningful for one
it, accept or control, minimize or enlarge it. Therefore as person must not also be meaningful for another person.
human beings we are always to some extent able to Finally, meaning cannot be simply given to someone by
choose some personal and individual form of attitude someone else, but oneself must find it.
toward and evaluation of our own suffering or the (4) Although meaning is personal and individual,
suffering of others. Last, but not least, we can change our it is not merely subjective, but an objective reality
own attitude and evaluation to some extent. This is even inherent to a situation. However it can only be found
true of the philosophical insight about the special by means of a special awareness of the form of a
position and uniqueness of human suffering within the situation. The meaningful form of a situation amounts
world. We can look at it pessimistically as the reason for to be an opportunity on the background of a reality.
a special and unique, but actually tragic loneliness Therefore meaning must be found and cannot be
within the universe, i.e. the existential tragedy of human produced at will. And it must not only be found, but it
suffering, or rather optimistically as a special and can always be found in any present situation.
unique, but actually dignified responsibility within the (5) In the search for meaning, human beings are
universe, i.e. the existential dignity of human suffering. guided by their conscience. Since human conscience
In the light of these hypothetical principles of a can fail and is never completely infallible, we can also
philosophical anthropology of human suffering we can fail about the meaning of a certain situation and even
finally look at the psychological and ethical problem of about the meaning of our life. Judgments about the
suffering from losing one's sense for the meaning of life. meaning of a certain situation or the meaning of life are
For after all we want to understand the complex always uncertain and risky. Therefore we can judge
relationship between human suffering and the reasons about meaning only with an adequate humility.
for losing one's faith in the meaning of life. (6) Meaning cannot be searched for, achieved and
perceived directly, but only indirectly through some
The Basic Human Need for the Meaning of Life meaningful activities. Whether we feel that our original
sense for meaning has been challenged or destroyed by
According to Viktor Frankl there are some basic principles some form of external or personal suffering we cannot
about the meaning of life one needs to understand: make up for it directly and willingly, but we have to
(1) There is no meaning of life as such apart from find some other aspect of the situation or some new
human beings who have an emotional, cognitive and
spiritual need for meaning in certain situations of their
life. And although there is no single, general and 5 Viktor E. Frankl, Die Sinnfrage in der Psychotherapie
(Mnchen: Piper Verlag, 1981); Das Leiden am sinnlosen Leben
(Freiburg: Herder Verlag, 1977).

http://www.bu.edu/paideia/existenz Volume 4, No 2, Fall 2009

Existenz: An International Journal in Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts 43

kind of activity which might be another source for our who they are and what they want to do in their lives
sense for meaning. This is why (the sense for) meaning before they entered a personal crisis.
seems to be so evasive at times and why it cannot be (11) Before psychotherapists and psychiatrists
proven to someone who has doubts about its existence. started out to understand, investigate and reflect the
(7) Neither the meaningfulness of the notion of the emotional and spiritual suffering of ordinary, neurotic
meaning of life nor the existence of meaning can be and psychotic people in a more systematic,
proven to empiricist or positivist, naturalist or methodological and scientific manner they took it for
behaviourist philosophers and psychologists, granted that ordinary people and pre-scientific folk-
psychotherapists and psychiatrists who merely accept psychology already know quite a bit about these
of the existence of empirical facts which can be verified psychological phenomena. Moreover if they are well
by the positivistic methods of objective and quantifying educated they also know about the endlessly rich
science. There are philosophers and scientists who deny resources for a life-long learning procedure about these
and doubt that the notion of the meaning of Life does psychological phenomena within the manifold of
make sense, is referring to an important human need religions and within the various forms and works of
and has to be accepted as a goal of psychotherapy. arts, such as epos, myths and tales, drama, literature
(8) For Viktor Frankl and his adherents, however, and poetry, sculpture, painting and film, etc.
there is no question that there is something like losing (12) Although for Frankl there is no question that
one's faith in the meaning of life. It is an essential part of there is something like loosing faith in the meaning of
the emotional, cognitive and spiritual suffering of life, there are many opinions and convictions, conceptions
human beings. People do have emotional, cognitive, and and controversies about the objective nature, the true
spiritual needs for meaning within their life. When this sources and the real conditions of the ability or inability
basic human need is getting frustrated, according to to experience and grasp one's actual and concrete
Frankl, it is satisfied by various substitutes, such as meaning of life. Moreover there are many perspectives,
superficial sensual pleasures, obsessions and addictions, descriptions and evaluations about the subjective ways
neuroses, personality disorders and psychoses, manias, of understanding the meaning of life. And finally there
depressions and other psychiatric illnesses. are various psychotherapeutic approaches, methods and
(9) The majority of human beings know suffering rules about the therapeutic treatment of losing one' s
from losing the meaning of life and have been understanding or the meaning of life.
immediately acquainted with it by themselves or by
other people. Emotional, cognitive and spiritual Human Suffering as a Challenge for
suffering is a life-long concern for all human beings the Meaning of Life
independent of age, gender, ethnic origine, nationality
or religion. It is a constant topic for all people whether Keeping Frankl's conception about the human need for
they are laymen or professionals who have to deal with the meaning of life in mind we can finally draw some
these issues when supporting people who are seeking conclusions about the ways in which human suffering
emotional relief, a healing cure for their wounded souls can be a challenge for someone's ability to find some
or a restitution of their mental health. meaning in life.
(10) Emotional and mental health is the primary (1) All external and all personal conditions of human
and only concern for psychiatrists, psychotherapists and suffering mentioned above can be a challenge for the
other therapists. Emotional and mental health is not the meaning of life under some situations. It all depends on
same as the comprehensive form of well-being, called the particular and contingent situation in which the
Shalom in the Jewish tradition or the spiritual salvation of individual person with its specific personality, biography
the soul in the Christian tradition. Comprehensive well- and social setting is positioned at the moment given.
being and spiritual salvation in the religious sense are of (2) Whether or not a particular external or personal
special concern for rabbis and priests, pastors and condition of human suffering really is a challenge for the
ministers or other spiritual guides. Therefore people meaning of life under the given situation is depending
who formally are believers in God (with their specific on the individual and personal understanding of what is
personal understanding of God) might also suffer from constitutive for his or her meaning of life.
the meaning of life. And this is also true for people who (3) Since one's personal sense for the meaning of life
used to have a firm and decent understanding about is highly individualized people may cope, react and act in
many different, unpredictable and even surprising ways

http://www.bu.edu/paideia/existenz Volume 4, No 2, Fall 2009

Existenz: An International Journal in Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts 44

toward any external and personal conditions of human accepted as a general necessity as long as we have
suffering. It all depends on their personal emotional, not been acquainted with the immediate experience of
cognitive and spiritual resources for discovering some the death of person close to us; (c) the contingency of
meaning in the remaining opportunities of their many aspects of our life which are a matter of chance
immediate living conditions when being threatened by rather than a matter of the orders and laws of nature or
the loss of meaning in other aspects of their life. of the social and cultural rules of conduct and which
(4) The individual ways of coping, acting and cause a lot of inequalities; (d) the reality of
reacting with respect to external and personal responsibility and guilt which cannot be denied despite
conditions of suffering as challenges for the meaning of of all attempts to understand and explain human
life is neither a good reason to negate or belittle the behaviour as determined by fate, biography,
immense impact of physical and emotional pain personality and (unconscious) motives; (e) the
contained in all forms of human suffering nor is it a existential failing or the fragmentary character of
good reason to accept and tolerate all the main sources human existence which is the reason why the
of physical and emotional, cognitive and spiritual existential attitudes of both pessimism and optimism
suffering. The individual ways of coping, acting and are based on mere rational constructions which fail to
reacting with respect to external and personal be phenomenologically aware of the ambivalent and
conditions of suffering as challenges for meaning can antinomic structure of human existence.
also be a good reason to resist and fight some of the (7) Among all personal conditions of suffering the
main sources of physical and emotional, cognitive and Grenzsituationen usually are the hardest challenges of the
spiritual suffering. Therefore all professions in which meaning of life because they are unavoidable constituents
preventing, prohibiting, diminishing and raising of human existence. On the one hand they provoke deep
human suffering are essential tasks contain some of the feelings of helplessness and powerlessness and crash the
most profound sources for meaning. natural and inborn human narcissism. On the other hand
(5) Since all the external and personal conditions of they provoke philosophical and religious questions and
human suffering can be, but no single source must be a they promote and deepen the search for the meaning of
challenge for the meaning of life of all persons (except life. This is why for Jaspers they are chances to wake up
for the complete annihilation of human life on Earth from mere factual Being-There (Dasein) to authentic
and the immense threat for the future of mankind human Existence (Existenz). Human suffering however is
posed by atomic, biological and chemical warfare, remaining an unavoidable element of human Existence:
world-wars and genocide) in all situations reasonable The common moment of all Grenzsituationen is that they
decisions have to be made with respect to the problem bring about suffering; but the common moment is also, that
which external and personal conditions of human they let the forces grow, which go along with the pleasures
suffering are to be accepted and toleratedeven if only of existence, of meaning, of growing. Suffering is not one
because of the inability to raise them under the given Grenzsituation among others, but all of them turn into
situationsand which external and personal conditions suffering under their subjective point of view. Pleasure and
of human suffering are to be resisted and fought against. suffering are unavoidably chained to each other. [PW 247]
These decisions are always a matter of phronesis or Although we started out with Plato's astonishingly
sensitive and decent judgment under given circumstances. modern and scientific approach to personal being and
(6) According to Karl Jaspers however there are the nature of the human soul, and although we
some conditions of human suffering which belong to appreciated Epictetus' hint about the dynamic reality of
human existence as such and which cannot be avoided the human mind we had to learn mainly from Frankl
and prohibited at all: the Grenzsituationen, or existential and Jaspers that emotional, cognitive and spiritual
borderline situations.6 Among them are (a) the struggle suffering is much more individual, personal and
for existence, which often is covered up by the human complicated than at first sight. Any empirical
need for love and harmony, solidarity and cooperation; psychological study on these very important and
(b) the individual death, which is often denied or only interesting phenomena of human suffering would have
to start out with such preliminary and hypothetical
6 Karl Jaspers, Psychologie der Weltanschauungen (Mnchen: philosophical assumptions in order to reach any
Piper Verlag, 1994), pp. 229 280 [henceforth cited as PW]. reliable results which are adequate to the full and rich
complexity of the phenomena.

http://www.bu.edu/paideia/existenz Volume 4, No 2, Fall 2009