| Description |
xxi, 242 pages ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [221]-233) and index. |
| Summary |
""Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies, " Gore Vidal once observed. It's funny, it's terrible, and it's true. What is it in human nature that makes us derive pleasure from others' - even friends' - suffering? John Portmann explores this all-too-human foible - what the Germans call Schadenfreude - in the first book ever written about this universal emotion." "Disagreement about suffering - what it is, who deserves it, and how much - has compelled philosophers for centuries. Portmann humanizes Schadenfreude by investigating what diverse thinkers like Nietzsche, Baudelaire, Freud, or Toni Morrison said about it. But Portmann does even more. Using Schadenfreude as a springboard, he explores pressing issues in contemporary society. For instance, what does our insatiable appetite for media images depicting power, scandal, and betrayal tell us about our culture? And, is capital punishment a modern-day euphemism for revenge?"--BOOK JACKET. |
| Contents |
Introduction: The Sometimes Sweet Suffering of Others -- When Pretty Bad Things Happen to Other People -- Much Ado about Nothing? -- Explaining Schadenfreude -- When Really Bad Things Happen to Other People -- The Meaning of Suffering -- Wicked Feelings -- Celebrating Suffering -- Punishment and Its Pleasure -- Cheering with the Angels -- Outlaw Emotions -- Conclusion: The Moral Problem of Schadenfreude. |
| Subject |
Suffering -- Moral and ethical aspects.
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Pleasure -- Moral and ethical aspects.
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Sympathy -- Moral and ethical aspects.
|
| Indexed Term |
Schadenfreude |
| ISBN |
0415923344 alkaline paper |
|
9780415923347 alkaline paper |
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0415923352 paperback alkaline paper |
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9780415923354 paperback alkaline paper |
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9780203903551 |
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0203903552 |
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