The problem of suffering : A Thomistic approach

Book chapter

Stump, Eleonore. (2018). The problem of suffering : A Thomistic approach. In In Trakakis, N. N. (Ed.). The problem of evil : Eight views in dialogue pp. 12-25 Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198821625.003.0002
AuthorsStump, Eleonore
EditorsTrakakis, N. N.
Abstract

In this chapter, suffering is described as a function of what a person cares about, so that for a human being to suffer is for him or her to be kept from flourishing. But what we care about has a subjective side too—denoted as ‘the desires of the heart’. Thus, the ‘problem of suffering’ is the task of accounting for the fact that many people are kept from flourishing, or from having the desires of their heart, or both. With respect to flourishing, the chapter follows Aquinas in regarding suffering as “God’s medicine for human beings,” and this claim is supported by allusion to empirical studies on ‘adversarial growth’. But the more obstinate problem is why people fail to get the desires of their heart and are heartbroken as a result, and to answer this the chapter turns from Aquinas to the biographies of John Milton and Claiborne Park.

Keywordsproblem of evil; Thomas Aquinas; human flourishing; adversarial growth; John Milton; Clara Claiborne Park
Page range12-25
Year2018
Book titleThe problem of evil : Eight views in dialogue
PublisherOxford University Press
Place of publicationOxford, United Kingdom
ISBN9780191860904
9780198821625
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198821625.003.0002
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85059497194
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All rights reserved
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Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online28 Jun 2018
Print2018
Publication process dates
Deposited27 Jan 2023
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