The Limits of Human Suffering and Its Subjectness

Abstract

Modern interdisciplinary and some social studies focus on the sources of human suffering and its objects. The key scientific problem in this case is the determination of the mechanisms of the generation of suffering and the assessment of its various forms. Nevertheless, the question of the subjectivity of suffering is equally important. In this article, the emphasis is placed on identifying the range of subjects that contribute to the emergence of suffering for various reasons. It is established that the subjectivity of suffering is based on three states (limits) that provoke the occurrence of the phenomenon under consideration — pain, danger and social risk. Using the results of some empirical studies shows that pain, danger and risk often cause suffering. This feature makes it possible to identify the subjects of this phenomenon. The appeal to subjectivity solves the question of concretization of the phenomenon under study, which is hardly identified in science and is often perceived as a given where individuals, social communities or society as a whole carry out their daily life activities. On this basis, the article names the subjects of suffering emanating, for example, from fatal pain: criminals, racists, atheists, corrupt officials, moralists, etc. The article also focuses on the statement of the position according to which the consolidating and separating limits of suffering are evaluated. Its subjects are able to influence both the unification and the alienation of individuals through social suffering. The main emphasis in the article is on Western concepts that actualize the problems of suffering.