Suffering
This theme runs through several big questions. Here are the ones where it plays out.
The questions that illuminate it
Can suffering have value, or should we strive to eliminate it as much as possible?
Does suffering make us grow, mature, understand, or is it only an evil to be reduced wherever we can? Granting it value can lead to glorifying or tolerating the intolerable; wanting only to abolish it can make us flee every ordeal that might have ripened us. To take a position is to say what to do with our own pain and that of others.
Is hope a force that sustains life and action, or an illusion we ought to let go of?
Hope gives the strength to hold on and to act when all seems lost, but it can blind us to what is and make us put life off until later; giving it up can free the courage to face the real, or dry up the drive to go on. To take a position is to say whether one can be lucid without ceasing to hope.
Is evil compatible with a good and all-powerful God?
The suffering of the innocent is the harshest test for anyone who believes in a good and all-powerful God. Before it, four paths part ways: justifying evil, giving up divine omnipotence, refusing all justification, or concluding that no such God exists. To take a position is to say whether faith can stand before misfortune, and at what cost.
Is the world fundamentally good, or marked by the tragic?
The same existence can be read as a gift worthy of trust or as a struggle with no final reconciliation, and this background hue colours our joys and misfortunes in advance. To take a position is to say whether hope is lucidity or blindness.