Can We Teach Philosophically About Unspeakable Human Suffering?

• Main Author: Azada-Palacios, Rowena
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2025
• Subjects: critical phenomenology; decolonial; suffering; teaching philosophy; War in Gaza; Arts and Humanities; Philosophy
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/philo-faculty-pubs/109; https://doi.org/10.1080/17449642.2025.2465222
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

This paper is a reflective response to Tena Thau’s suggestion–in her 2024 piece ‘Moral Philosophy as War Propaganda’–that philosophy has little to teach about the war in Gaza (and, by extension, similar cases of widespread, horrific human suffering). I first reconstruct one of the arguments that Thau makes in her piece. I then show that her criticisms about philosophy are true for a particular way of doing philosophy, and I attempt to uncover the underlying philosophical anthropology that makes these moral philosophical approaches unsuitable for addressing grave human suffering. Finally, I propose that a critical phenomenological approach that examines widespread suffering through an anti-/post-/decolonial lens may be more suitable when teaching philosophically about human suffering.