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IAmNotAPerson6 t1_it6wd04 wrote

Reply to comment by PrimePhilosophy in The real practical value of philosophy comes not through focusing on the ‘ideal’ life, but through helping us deal with life’s inevitable suffering: MIT professor Kieran Setiya on how philosophy can help us navigate loneliness, grief, failure, injustice, & the absurd. by philosophybreak

It's those and a lot more. I don't really know of anyone explicitly promoting an attempt to live free of suffering either. It just seems like an implicit composite built out of background cultural pushes in that direction that make people feel worse for failing and whatnot, which philosophy then uses as a foil in talking about how to actually get through the suffering instead of the implicit idea of forgoing it entirely.

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PrimePhilosophy t1_it6y9bc wrote

"I don't really know of anyone explicitly promoting an attempt to live free of suffering either"

As far as I'm aware Nondualism, or Advaita (in Hinduism and Buddhism) does this.

"talking about how to actually get through the suffering instead of the implicit idea of forgoing it entirely."

I suppose that's what it would seem like (getting through the suffering) to those who haven't forgone it entirely. The suffering is just not experienced... But others might think the suffering is being experienced by the person they are observing because they imagine it through empathy.

Eg. If I say I haven't experienced racism.. despite being a middle eastern/south asian ethnic minority in a western country. Others might think I'm still living through racism.. like it's a tangible physical thing, when it's really just a matter of perception.

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robothistorian t1_it9rhcu wrote

>"I don't really know of anyone explicitly promoting an attempt to live free of suffering either"

>As far as I'm aware Nondualism, or Advaita (in Hinduism and Buddhism) does this.

I am not sure I would agree with this. Can you point to any Advaitic philosophy sources that supports this?

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PrimePhilosophy t1_it9v8fh wrote

"CAN SUFFERING BE RELIEVED? Absolutely! Yes! It happens through an intuitive recognition that we’re not independent. Rather we are essentially linked to something vastly bigger." https://www.advaita.org/

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PrimePhilosophy t1_it9ulcz wrote

"Vedanta is a systematic unfoldment of the teachings of the Upanishads. It deals with the question of self-identity and liberation from worldly suffering." https://www.unbrokenself.com/what-is-advaita-vedanta/

FYI Vedanta is the path/method to Advaita.

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robothistorian t1_it9wpd2 wrote

Vedanta literally means "end of the Vedas" (Veda + anta (means "the end of")).

To suggest that Advaitic philosophy, which is embodied for the most part in the Principal Upanishads and the Brahmasutras, is about "liberation from worldly suffering" is to mischaracterize some of the core themes of the philosophical system.

Advaitic philosophy, among other things, pays particular attention to the impermanence of "the Self" and posits an immanent ontology in which the complex relationality between the Brahman, the Atman, the Jiva, the Jivatman plays out.

Some useful insights into this complex and multivaried philosophical system may be found in the works of Deutsch & van Buitenen (1971), Isaeva (1995), Comans (2000), Sarma (2007), among others.

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PrimePhilosophy t1_ita1brc wrote

I wasn't claiming that ""liberation from worldly suffering"" was the only aspect of nondualism. In case you forgot, I was responding to you being unaware of anyone that explicitly promotes the idea of being free from suffering. Now you are attempting to school me on something that you were unaware of, after I brought it to your attention.. Hilarious.. 😂😂😂

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robothistorian t1_ita27ef wrote

I am not trying to school you on anything tbh. I don't care enough to do so. It is your mischaracterization that I was pointing to. But again, I don't care enough about furthering this discussion.

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