ABSTRACT
In this chapter, following a similar logic to the preceding chapter concerning the different kinds and levels of well-being, we offer an existential theory of suffering and a framework that delineates eighteen kinds of suffering. There are two reasons why we wish to complement a focus on well-being with a focus on suffering: Firstly, we see a continuum of well-being and suffering, although not a linear continuum in which one excludes the other; well-being and suffering are always in relation to one another. Secondly, various discourses have either overemphasised well-being and obscured the significance of suffering, or overemphasised suffering and obscured the well-being possibilities. We believe that a humanly sensitive care that matters requires a view and understanding of both: a focus on well-being provides a direction for care; and a focus on, and understanding of, suffering, provides a human capacity for care. This dual focus is consistent with the view of the person articulated in Chapter 3 where we argued that it is important to meet people in both their vulnerabilities as well as their possible freedoms: suffering announces vulnerability, and well-being announces freedom.
