Awfully Christian. There is no inherent good to suffering. It’s just incredibly difficult to go through life without it. You can’t have a baby without a painf

Awfully Christian. There is no inherent good to suffering. It’s just incredibly difficult to go through life without it. You can’t have a baby without a painful birth, but you wouldn’t argue that the suffering associated with the pain of the birth means that suffering is a necessary condition for having meaningful life with your child. “Pain is mandatory; suffering is optional” This misguided professor (he is of course well-known) does get at something genuinely true though: meaning can be more worthwhile than pleasure. But the suffering part has got nothing to do with it.