The Paradox of Desire: Exploring the Relationship Between Desire and Suffering

Extract

[...] The famous German pharmacy chain has made it its slogan: 'Here I am human, here I buy.' Would desire therefore be a permanent lack? Etymologically, it is certain: the word desire comes from the Latin desire, which refers to the disappearance, then the reappearance of a star Some philosophers go further by stating that the only way to avoid suffering is not to desire. Thus, the Stoic thinker Epictetus explains that desire is necessarily unsatisfying. The world around us does not depend on us, we cannot change it. It is the desire, inevitably thwarted, to change it that makes beings unhappy. [...]

[...] Some desires are certainly sources of suffering. But they are sometimes only so because they are repressed, that is, deeply buried in our unconscious. This is the basis of psychoanalysis, theorized by Freud. His most famous examples are often scandalous, but the underlying idea can be applied to any type of desire. If desires are unconscious, it means that the actions taken to satisfy them are done despite ourselves. Knowing oneself and knowing one's desires thus appears as an effective means of reducing the suffering related to this desire. [...]

[...] The paradox of this vision is interesting: the pain of desire is inevitable, but not necessarily eternal. We can therefore observe that beyond the simple definition of the lack to be filled, desire can also generate many other emotions that are much more positive. The debate on desire has long been parasitized by the Church, particularly in the Middle Ages. Even today, it is not uncommon to encounter people advocating for the repression of desires, the sacrifice of personal well-being. [...]

[...] It is therefore necessary to take a step back and ask ourselves if desire is, by essence, synonymous with suffering. We will first focus on the definition of desire, which necessarily generates suffering. We will however see that this state of affairs is not always inevitable. Schopenhauer, in The World as Will and Representation, He wrote: 'desire, by its nature, is suffering.' What could lead to affirming that suffering is part of the very essence of desire? For many philosophers and thinkers, an element of the answer lies in the purpose of desire. [...]