Praxeology and Suffering
Praxeology is the deductive study of human action, based on the notion that it is an undeniable truth that all human action is purposeful and no human action is without purpose.
Purposeful human action is undeniablely true since to be disproven it would require an unpurposed act of proof, of which there is no such thing. To engage in an action to disprove the claim is, itself, purposeful.
One of the sub-areas of study within praxeology is the notion that motives for decisions resulting in actions stem from an awareness of “unease” which influences a change behavior.
An example is the unease created by an unsatisfied need or want.
As a Christian using a biblical foundation of theology and historicity, I wholly concur with this theory. Indeed, I believe that it is the pursuit of the relief from suffering (and not the pursuit of pleasure) that are the primary motives for all human action.
From the Fall of man in the Garden and his subsequent condemnation to live in a fallen world of scarce resources, disease, and pain mixed with the efforts required to obtain temporary relief, the human condition is repeatedly reminded of its natural state of want.
The history of man records his efforts to be free of these burdens by his pursuit of material abundance, peace, safety, and personal as well as sociopolitical freedom.
Acts of aggression, wars, brutalities, acts of greed or selfishness, and other such behaviors follow the same motives, yet are twisted in the sense they use the means of coercion and force to achieve the same ends, and in many historical cases, for the benefit of only a tribal few. But the motive to relieve suffering remains the same.
From the opposite theological view, the view is that man pursues acts of pleasure or selfishness to satisfy his sinful and lustful appetites, or appetites of the flesh. The lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, as described in (1 John 2:16).
As a mild example of a pleasure-based motive, it can be argued that the desire for ice cream is not the same as an action that relieves suffering; it is simply the fulfillment of a pleasurable desire for the creamy dessert.
However, when looked at from the suffering-relief point of origin, the net effect of a pleasurable ice cream experience offsets and provides temporary relief from the experience of suffering, without which the suffering would be ubiquitous.
It is my view that our subjective orientation toward pleasure (and our pursuit of it) clouds our perception of the true objective of suffering-relief. So distracting is the pursuit of pleasure that it becomes a focus of purpose, when in reality it is the relief from suffering that is the true impetus.
I believe any study of alcohol and other drug addictions must take this view into account. Generally speaking, a person drinks to enhance his capacity to cope, which is an attempt to relieve his suffering.
Any pleasurable experience is ancillary to temporary, cope-producing relief; yet because it is pleasurable the subjective focus narrows to sustain the pleasure experience.
So what has this to do with God?
God is the Maker of all things.
God is the Great and Only Uncreated Being.
In order to understand the universal presence of suffering it is important to also have an understanding of the One who made the suffering environment and experience so omnipresent to the human life.
This article is introduces a shift in perspective about suffering. Not just to the academic origin of suffering, or its current state in the world, or “techniques” for coping, but to the facilitation of human minds with a deeper level of understanding of the One who set it into motion and the individual’s relationship to the deeper suffering experience — from which there is no present escape.
John 16:33 Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart for I have overcome the world.”
