Goncharuk, E. A. Suffering in Terms of Philosophical Anthropology

Abstract: Much is said and written about suffering in modern philosophy. Noteworthy that in ancient philosophy suffering became a philosophical concept. Classical philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus and Seneca tried to understand the nature and the purpose of suffering as a human emotional experience. The heroic purpose of the feeling is shown in the phenomenon of catharsis as a spiritual purification. Later at different ages philosophers addressed to suffering in order to revel the gnoseological, moral and esthetic aspect of the problem. However, no researchers have been devoted to suffering in terms of philosophical anthropology. By comparing suffering with enjoyment and human activity, philosophers have managed to outline different aspects of understanding this phenomenon and its role in human life. Existentialism viewed suffering as a vivid and reverent emotion. However, not all aspects of this problem are studied by modern philosophy. In the research the author uses, first of all, fundamental concepts of philosophical anthropology. The author also uses hermeneutic methods and a problem-oriented approach to the analysis and exposition of the material. When writing the article, the author addresses to the structural, historical and comparativehistorical methods. The novelty of the article is in the fact that the researcher is the first one to give the historical and philosophical description of the problem. The author also traces back the development of anthropology from ancient philosophy to the ‘philosophy of life’. Special attention is paid to Kant’s definition of consciousness in philosophical anthropology. The author also studies different aspects of this problem in Schopenhauer’s and Nietzsche’s philosophy.

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