2 of 6

Write now Article Tools

Page 5 of 5

he himself saw it as optimism. As he points out "one supposes that Sisyphus was happy." We too can be happy if we realize the irrationality of evil and the absurdity of existence.

One last approach may provide a little more comfort though. Perhaps evil is therapy. This may sound as strange as anything I've said so far but stay with me. If you remember a few lectures ago I mentioned Viktor Frankl and his logotherapy which was an attempt to give meaning to life. Clearly this is a much different approach to Camus. Consider an animal being used for medical research. The animal is subjected to painful experiments. From the perspective of that animal, the pain and suffering are meaningless. If the animal could see things from the human perspective it would understand the true meaning of its suffering. How do we know that there isn't a higher realm where our suffering too has a meaning? Perhaps, our suffering here is meant to prepare us for something to come. One of the best examples of this theodicy is given by Malcolm Muggeridge; a 20th century journalist and eloquent spokesman for Christianity. He relates the following parable:

"Some very humane, rather simpleminded old lady sees the play King Lear performed and she is outraged that a poor old man should be so humiliated, made to suffer so. And in the eternal shade she meets Shakespeare, and she says to him, 'What a monstrous thing to make that poor old man go through all that.' And Shakespeare says, 'Yes, I quite agree. It was very painful, and I could have arranged for him to take a sedative at the end of Act I, but then ma'am, there would have been no play.' See my point?"

Learn more about this author, Kevin J. Browne.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Add your voice

Know something about God allows suffering?
We want to hear your view. Write now!