Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Although many of us deny it, it is not uncommon to feel pleasure over the suffering of others, particularly when we feel that suffering has been deserved. The German word for this concept-Schadenfreude-has become universal in its expression of this feeling. Drawing on the teachings of history's most prominent philosophers, John Portmann explores the concept of Schadenfreude in this rigorous, comprehensive, and absorbing study.
Synopsis
"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.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [221]-233) and index.