Torment: The Philosophical Foundation and Political Dimension of Suffering

This essay is a profound reflection on the nature of human suffering, defined as anguish—the hard core of existence that cannot be reduced to a statistical balance of profits and losses. The author criticizes the utilitarian approach to life, pointing to its inhumane consequences, and invokes the thought of Leszek Kołakowski as an antidote to the empty arithmetic of pain. The text skillfully weaves religious and philosophical themes with the brutal reality of the mental health crisis described by the WHO. The key conclusion is the demand for a new, civic theodicy, in which the state and its institutions cease to be a source of systemic anguish and become guarantors of individual dignity. This is a call for radical transparency and solidarity in the face of the existential crisis of modernity.