서강대학교

초록/요약

ABSTRACT Confucian view on Human Suffering Lourenco Elisio Joaquim Tala Department of Religious Studies Graduate School Sogang University The purpose of this thesis is to look deeper into the Confucian view on Human Suffering. The theme of human suffering has always been tackled as a central theme in various reflections about the mystery of man and how he is called into existence. Suffering in all its aspects pervades the life experience of all people. The biblical writers had to deal with it in an effort to explain why it is present in the world, and how faith copes with it in living out a relationship with God. Confucianism understanding of human Suffering, starts from the view point that human nature is good, therefore this same human nature is on its regular and gradual process of self realization, which in this case involves pain and suffering as a constitutional elements. The ability to endure Suffering and pain is seen as a value in the process of self realization(self realization in a communal dimension, not in isolation). Confucianism believes that man is perfectible by self-efforts and one has to achieve self-realization through self-cultivation. Confucianism self-cultivation is a gradual process of combining all levels of the community in the process of self-transformation. Therefore, pain and suffering are often constitutive elements in the existential condition of human greatness. If we look to a tradition such as Christianity, we see a central place given to the problem of human Suffering. For Christians, Human suffering is considered to be a participation in the suffering of Christ. This is in the sense that Christ himself accepted to die on the cross for the salvation of mankind. Given the nature of Christ, man and God (through the mystery of incarnation), Christ’s resurrection and ascension into Heaven, introduces our human suffering to the nature of God. Therefore in God there is an open space for humanity introduced by Christ. Thus human suffering is something temporal, because there is the hope of overcoming it just as Christ did. We seek to conduct our study on how the problem of Human Suffering is explained in Confucianism without making value judgment on how this Tradition deals with it. Suffering is thus accepted as a fact of existence. There is no attempt made to deny it or to explain it away.