suffering bears no relationship to my understanding of my own humanity, it is
ultimately a denial of the possibility of a common humanity.
Moreover, with respect to the kind of ethical requirements put forward by
cosmopolitans like Peter Singer, there are many possible reasons for rejecting the
kind of consequentialism that would put every human activity, whether opera-going
or famine relief, into the same felicific calculus.^50 But surely one is that opera-going
embodies some of the possibilities of a common humanity not only defined in terms
of torture, murder, starvation, misery and survival.^51 Such a vision of common
humanity and its requirements may well be both impractical and undesirable, for
without consolations and pleasures. It neglects the important fact that such
consolations and pleasures can be crucial to nourishing our sense of humanity and
thereby creating the resources to care for each other.
The second reason why knowledge of suffering needs to be handled with
care is the well-documented danger of prompting affective reactions quite different
to humanitarian concern. A close relation of pity, through the distinction it makes
between those who suffer and those who do not, is Schadenfreude. Schadenfreude
is not something on which contemporary international political theory likes to
dwell. The idea that some may take, if not pleasure, then at least comfort in the
suffering of another is nevertheless an important consideration here. Even Vaux, a
dedicated and experienced aid worker, sees the possibility of a mild version of this
in himself: “I was like the person who watches TV and reassures himself with images
of starving people, before reaching for a pizza from the fridge”.^52
Entangled with the spectrum of affective reactions leading from pity to
empathy is one that ranges from indifference to Schadenfreude to sadism, and that
runs through many nuances, from shameful denial to voyeuristic pleasure. Sontag
documents some of these excesses in her work.^53 In fact, as Karen Halttunen
demonstrates, humanitarianism has been frequently associated with what she
50
See Peter Singer, "Famine, Affluence, and Morality", Philosophy & Public Affairs 1, no. 3
(1972). 51
52 Even if these themes lie at the heart of so many opera plots.
53 Vaux, The Selfish Altruist , 94.
Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others.