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Forum for Philosophy

October 24th, 2016

Can We Learn from Suffering?

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Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Forum for Philosophy

October 24th, 2016

Can We Learn from Suffering?

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Danielle Sands/ Anatasia Scrutton/ Tom Stern

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6.30 – 8pm | Monday 24 October 2016
Wolfson Theatre, LSE

Speakers
Danielle Sands, Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture, Royal Holloway, University of London, and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow
Anastasia Scrutton, Associate Professor in Philosophy and Religion, University of Leeds
Tom Stern, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University College London

Chair
Peter Dennis, Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, LSE and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow

The ‘most depressing lesson’ of suffering, Slavoj Žižek writes, is that ‘there is nothing to be learned from it’. Is Žižek’s bleak view convincing, or is there evidence to suggest that suffering can educate or even improve us? If so, do some types of physical or mental suffering have more value than others? What is it that we learn? Does suggesting that suffering has meaning or value validate or demean the experience of suffering? In this event, three philosophers will address these questions. 

Image credit: Yuan Tian, ‘Frida Kahlo-The Broken Column

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Forum for Philosophy

Science, politics, and culture from a philosophical point of view

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