Have you ever
stopped to think that for most people, human existence is actually quite a
hard lot. Consider for a moment those in the developing world
who are living in abject poverty: millions of the inhabitants of our
planet are forced to spend themselves and their families. If
they have children, many of them will die fairly painful deaths from
malnourishment and dysentery before ever reaching maturity.
Imagine what it must be like to wake up every morning thinking to yourself
today will be yet another struggle for mere survival for yourself and for
those you love.
I know what
you are thinking. You are saying to yourself, "Yes, but I am an
American. I have a nice house and a new car and plenty of wonderful
food to eat. I am going to be a college graduate---part of an elite
group that is virtually assured of 
having a comfortable life, free of
poverty and suffering." If you are the typical Molloy
student, you are probably in your twenties, in generally good health,
surrounded by family and friends who care about you. You think, in
other words, that you are virtually guaranteed a happy life.
Think again.
No one who
lives on this planet is immune from pain and suffering. Plenty of men
and women just like yourselves have been stricken with debilitating
diseases. And they too probably though that it couldn't happen to
them.
Tomorrow you
could be the victim of of a violent crime or you could be mangled in a car
accident; next week, you could find out that your parent or best friend is terminally
ill. At some point in life, a friend, or boyfriend or perhaps even
your husband will betray you and your children will despise you.
And even if
everything in life seems to be perfect--- you manage to get that nice house
in the suburbs and the new SUV, your spouse and children love you and
everyone is healthy and safe---there is still one thing that you can't
escape: in a very short time (too short for most people) you are going
to get sick, enfeebled and you will ultimately die. There simply
is no escaping this fact, although we might try to ignore the reality of our
own mortality for as long as possible.
What is the
reason for these depressing observations? My aim is to help you get
real...if only for a few moments. Life is not a fairy tale and for
many human beings---including those of us lucky enough to live in the
first world---it can often be nothing short of a "veil of
tears." The question that I want to to think about is how can
human beings possibly find happiness in a world filled with suffering,
adversity and death.
To help you
think intelligently about this question, I have compiled a brief collection
of classical reflections on the human condition (don't expect them to be too
cheerful). I want you to read these reflections over carefully and be
prepared to argue in class whether you think happiness is still possible
despite the often sad reality of our human condition.
