5 ms·
I'm not much of a philsopher, but if you're at all interested in the other side of thinking I would suggest Viktor Frankl. He was a jewish person in a nazi conc
by jonfw 7y ago
I'm not much of a philsopher, but if you're at all interested in the other side of thinking I would suggest Viktor Frankl. He was a jewish person in a nazi concentration camp and he make a much stronger argument than I can for this point of view.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl
> After enduring the suffering in these camps, Frankl concluded that even in the most absurd, painful, and dehumanized situation, life has potential meaning and that, therefore, even suffering is meaningful.
- rhn_mk1 7y agoThank you for the link! After reading a little bit about meaning, it seems that it's something that has to be found first https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_(existential) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_(existential) so even if there's meaning in the most miserable of lives, it's not guaranteed that it will be found. However, I haven't found anything suggesting that meaning makes life worth living, only a passing mention of it bringing happiness, which doesn't square with my understanding of torture or concentration camps. Am I misunderstanding what meaning is?
- GeneralTspoon 7y agoNot to minimize his suffering, but spending ~3 years out of his 92 year life being tortured isn't the same as a whole life of torture with no meaning or hope of escape.
- Relys 7y agoYeah, it's not like the Nazi's were breeding Jews for the express purpose of a life of slavery, torture, and slaughter. I think comparing it is a false equivalency. Also Godwin's Law.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]