To Solve or Not to Solve…

Abstract

The human predicament has been described in the previous chapter as dissatisfaction with the human condition. The discrepancy between one’s desires on the instinctual, emotional, moral, intellectual and spiritual levels and the impossibility of satisfying them either in principle or in practice has been revealed as the source of discontent. In this chapter, the general characterization of the human predicament is strengthened by probing philosophical approaches to desire and reason, and various views of the possibility or impossibility of fulfilling desire. The formula proposed is further validated by its implicit intimations in the fundamentals of most religions and philosophies, both Eastern and Western. Various religions and philosophies are disclosed as attempts to relieve the human predicament through paths of liberation characterized as redemption or peace of mind. These theories are divided into three general types, according to the criticisms they occasion. Based on the epistemic costs involved in adhering to most theories, I recommend shunning the solutions they offer to the human predicament.