Zelinskaya A.N. Discovering Meaning Through Suffering

Abstract: The subject under research is existentialism as the branch of contemporary Western philosophy that was created in the 20th century in response to the need for developing a new world perception that would be sensitive to the views of those times and became appreciated and popular in the 40s - 60s. Being a branch of philosophy, existentialism absorbed all the pain and tragism of the Second World War and reflected consequences of the intense psychological and social crises of victims of that tragedy. So-called existential situation is described in terms of extremity, maximality and transcendental existence. The theme of man's desolation is shown as the main problem of existential philosophy. The research of the problem is based on the analysis of existing sources on the problem and substantiation of the researcher's conclusions on the research topic. According to the results of the research, suffering from a meaningless life encourages us to search for a meaningful life. When suffering is not an everyday misfortune but caused by serious reasons such as loss of a loved one, unhappy love, betrayal or treachery, it can become a blessing. When suffering, we start to take the world and life more seriously and our feelings and emotions become more differentiated. The one who has never grieved does not know true happiness. Tragic situations oblige to lead a more sensible life and life itself gives the answers to all questions. The meaning can be found easier when there are grief and unhappiness. Tragic stories are absolutely for everyone. In a tragic situation the problem of meaning becomes especially acute. 

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