Introduction
Anguish is not merely a footnote to life, but its hard core. Today, suffering has ceased to be a purely private drama, becoming a systemic, political, and economic phenomenon. This article deconstructs the mechanisms of the "infrastructure of anguish" and seeks answers in philosophy and spiritual traditions. Readers will learn how to distinguish utilitarian calculation from the ethics of dignity and what civic theodicy is—a project for a state that does not turn its gaze away from the pain of its citizens.
Kołakowski vs. Russell: The Meaning of Suffering vs. Utilitarianism
The dispute over the nature of pain opens with a confrontation between two attitudes. Bertrand Russell, representing utilitarianism, suggested the logical elimination of suffering along with the sufferers. Leszek Kołakowski rejects this "accounting," arguing that humans do not live according to balance sheets but rather dig in and persist despite the pain. In anthropological terms, anguish is "being crushed by reality"—the moment when the web of social meanings breaks. Various religious traditions attempt to give this meaning: Judaism through the absolute value of the individual, Islam through the ethics of patience (sabr), and Christianity through solidarity with innocent pain. Buddhism, in turn, offers a map of dukkha, teaching how to recognize the causes of existential frustration. In this context, humor and irony become defense mechanisms that allow one to maintain distance from the empty arithmetic of misfortune.
The Achievement Society: Self-Aggression and the Plague of Burnout
Today’s generation of young people faces an unprecedented crisis of well-being, exacerbated by the pandemic and the climate crisis. The statistics are alarming: a 148 percent increase in suicide attempts among minors is a wake-up call. Social sciences diagnose this as the achievement society, where—according to Byung-Chul Han—discipline has been replaced by self-aggression and the compulsion of self-exploitation. Anguish becomes a structural problem: Zygmunt Bauman pointed to the systemic production of "human waste," and the precariat experiences alienation resulting from job instability. However, deep cultural differences exist: while the West medicalizes pain as a private technical problem, African cultures perceive it as a communal experience ("our illness"), requiring the restoration of social bonds rather than just pharmacology.
Civic Theodicy: Transparency, Justice, and Community
Anguish is sometimes cynically instrumentalized: populism feeds on a sense of grievance, and capitalism monetizes fear and envy through social media algorithms. The response should be a civic theodicy based on three pillars: institutional transparency, the primacy of dignity over utility, and policy based on hard data. The transparency of public institutions is crucial because it allows us to see the pain hidden in statistics and budgets. Individuals can resist through information hygiene, nurturing relationships, and the courage to make small public interventions. As Rabbi Tarfon teaches: we are not required to complete the work of repairing the world, but neither are we allowed to abandon it. Institutional solidarity must replace the "cheap accounting of pain" that treats humans as costs to be optimized.
Dignity and Presence: The Ethical Foundations of Humanity
Art and literature, as Kołakowski noted, grow almost entirely out of human pain, serving as a form of "mourning work" and the infrastructure of a nation's mental health. True humanity in the face of anguish is based on dignity, solidarity, and truthfulness. Suffering does not have to be an abyss; it can become a source of connection, provided we do not let it turn into hatred. In a world where pain has become a currency, can we find something of priceless value? The answer lies in looking anguish courageously in the eye and building communities resilient to cynicism—communities that, instead of excluding the weak, make them the center of their care.
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