About Suffering in the World (homepage) / Algoscience

TERMINOLOGY IN ALGOSCIENCE

This document offers a few notes to begin a systematic study of terms and expressions used to deal with the topic of suffering.

New words are required to refer to new things. It is proposed to use the ancient Greek word algos, which means suffering, as a convenient root for forming neologisms, alleviating language repetition, and facilitating technical semantics.

The word algo-sphere is proposed to name the sphere of interest that deals with suffering, as described on that page, and the expression algospheric approach identifies a way specifically designed to deal with suffering itself, suffering first, and suffering as a whole.

The word algonomy has also been proposed. It was used in older texts, but is now relinquished because it had different meanings depending on the context: it could refer to the discipline or the sphere of interest or the approach that are suggested about suffering, which are now more clearly referred to as the algoscience, the algo-sphere, and the algospheric approach.

The word suffering is itself highly problematic, because its definition remains an elusive matter. For a start, let us simply talk about suffering as the phenomenon of unpleasant feeling. The Wikipedia article on suffering has a section about words that are often used ambiguously when dealing with this topic. Here is an excerpt, as of 2022-02-02:

The word suffering is sometimes used in the narrow sense of physical pain, but more often it refers to mental or emotional pain, or more often yet to pain in the broad sense, i.e. to any unpleasant feeling, emotion or sensation. The word pain usually refers to physical pain, but it is also a common synonym of suffering. The words pain and suffering are often used both together in different ways. For instance, they may be used as interchangeable synonyms. Or they may be used in 'contradistinction' to one another, as in "pain is inevitable, suffering is optional", or "pain is physical, suffering is mental". Or they may be used to define each other, as in "pain is physical suffering", or "suffering is severe physical or mental pain".

Qualifiers, such as mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual, are often used for referring to certain types of pain or suffering. In particular, mental pain (or suffering) may be used in relationship with physical pain (or suffering) for distinguishing between two wide categories of pain or suffering. A first caveat concerning such a distinction is that it uses physical pain in a sense that normally includes not only the 'typical sensory experience of physical pain' but also other unpleasant bodily experiences including air hunger, hunger, vestibular suffering, nausea, sleep deprivation, and itching. A second caveat is that the terms physical or mental should not be taken too literally: physical pain or suffering, as a matter of fact, happens through conscious minds and involves emotional aspects, while mental pain or suffering happens through physical brains and, being an emotion, involves important physiological aspects.

The word unpleasantness, which some people use as a synonym of suffering or pain in the broad sense, may refer to the basic affective dimension of pain (its suffering aspect), usually in contrast with the sensory dimension, as for instance in this sentence: “Pain-unpleasantness is often, though not always, closely linked to both the intensity and unique qualities of the painful sensation.” Other current words that have a definition with some similarity to suffering include distress, unhappiness, misery, affliction, woe, ill, discomfort, displeasure, disagreeableness.

Etymology might be useful, or at least instructive. Entries are from Online Etymology Dictionary.

• Suffering:  from Vulgar Latin *sufferire, variant of Latin sufferre "to bear, undergo, endure, carry or put under," from sub "up, under" (see sub-) + ferre "to carry, bear," from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry," also "to bear children."
  
• Pain: from Greek poinē "retribution, penalty, quit-money for spilled blood," from PIE *kwei- "to pay, atone, compensate" (see penal).
• Dolorous: from Latin dolor "pain, grief," perhaps from PIE root *delh- "to chop" "under the assumption than 'pain' was expressed by the feeling of 'being torn apart'" [de Vaan].
• Unpleasant: from Latin placere "to be acceptable, be liked, be approved," related to placare "to soothe, quiet" (source of Spanish placer, Italian piacere), from PIE *pl(e)hk- "to agree, be pleasant," with cognates in Tocharian plak- "to agree," plaki "permission."
• Disagreeable: from Latin gratum, neuter of gratus "pleasing, welcome, agreeable" (from suffixed form of PIE root *gwere- (2) "to favor").
• -algia: word-forming element denoting "pain," from Greek algos "pain," algein "to feel pain," which is of unknown origin. Related to alegein "to care about," originally "to feel pain."  (But see also https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/algid: "Algid is a rather cold and lonely word, etymologically speaking-it's the only word in any of the dictionaries we publish that comes from the Latin word algēre, meaning "to feel cold.")

Last modification: 2023/07/01