A Conceptual and Moral Analysis of Suffering
Abstract
This analysis presents an epistemological and moral examination of suffering. It addresses the specific questions: (1) What is suffering? (2) Can one's suffering be assessed by another? and (3) What is the moral significance of suffering? The epistemological analysis is orientated by Peter Hacker's framework for the investigation of emotions, demonstrating that suffering is an emotion. This leads to a discussion of whether suffering is a phenomenon that can be evaluated objectively by another person who is not experiencing the suffering, questioning the validity of some decisional models for limiting life-sustaining therapies with the aim of preventing suffering. This analysis highlights that understandings of suffering are value laden. It is conventionally implied that suffering is `bad' and that it should be eliminated. Suffering is commonly regarded as a moral wrong that needs to be made right by health care. This article concludes with a recommendation for a paradigm shift in how suffering can be better understood, through the practice of empathic attunement.
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The majority of participants did not identify specific diagnostic categories as more likely to be eligible for MAiD MI-SUMC, but rather viewed the grievousness of a condition and the burden of suffering, in all its dimensions, as subjective experiences.
“The majority of participants did not identify specific diagnostic categories as more likely to be eligible for MAiD MI-SUMC, but rather viewed the grievousness of a condition and the burden of suffering, in all its dimensions [47, 53, 54], as subjective experiences.”
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- Authors
- Carnevale, F. A.
- Affiliations
- McGill University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Carnevale, Franco A
- ORCID
- Carnevale, Franco A
- Venue
- Nursing Ethics
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-03
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 173-183
- ISSN
- 0969-7330 (ISSN-L)
- 1477-0989
- OpenAlex
- W2161589481
- Cited by
- 58
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 3.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Nursing Ethics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophical Ethics and Theory
- Keywords
- suffering, Peter Hacker, epistemology of emotions, value-laden concepts, end-of-life care, empathic attunement
- MeSH terms
- Bioethics, Emotions, Humans, Morals, Stress, Psychological, Knowledge, Ethical Theory
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