ABSTRACT

Schopenhauer’s profound appreciation of the awfulness of human suffering leads him to sanctify suffering and to equate Schadenfreude with evil. His somewhat unreflective reverence for suffering culminates in a full-blown condemnation of Schadenfreude. Revulsion to Schadenfreude, specifically, refusal to view the emotion as an object of rational assessment, suggests confusion about suffering. The question to be answered is precisely what is so evil about Schadenfreude?