Freudenfreude

The Times Newspaper has a weekly column usually but not always geared to religious beliefs. 'Not always' because very occasionally the column features a writer with humanist leanings.

The Times  column this week was in my view excellent. The author on this occasion  was a CoE (I believe) minister, The Reverend Canon J John. My apologies to him if  I have mis-stated his religious  title or background.

The column is entitled "Why shadenfreude is not always  harmless fun." There are several different types of shadenfreude he suggests, covering several different types of personal human feelings.

The least contentious he describes as shandenfreude-lite. This feeling  surely shared from time to time by yours truly, is common enough and those who have watched that old BBC TV favourite "Faulty Towers" will probably have laughed out loud with, or should that be 'at', many of  the mishaps and arguments shown onscreen by the cast of that excellent program, which include heaps of shandenfreude.

Canon John then goes on to detail non-lite ordinary shadenfraude, for example that in reported court cases where to the man or woman on the Clapham omnibus, justice and the reported punishment fit the crime. He reports however that this type of shadenfraude  risks making us  become amateur  judges with in any case, only some but not all of the relevant facts in our possession. 

Then more serious kind of shadenfraude  he mentions, can occur when someone more wealthy or otherwise richer  than we may be, is publicly humbled in some way, leading  as a result of our own envy perhaps, to  our experiencing  some kind of bitter, enjoyment.

The final example  he describes as diabolic shadenfraude   where for example, a whole race suffers an unfortunate event. Although he does not mention them, the Jewish people are surely among those who have suffered  the most over many generations,  from diabolic shadenfraude?

Canon John then goes on to suggest that we should instead of wallowing in  shadenfraude,  cultivate freudenfreude, which he describes "delight in joy" which is the mirror image of shadenfraude. In brief, freudenfreude he says is the taking delight in the success of others. 

Whereas shadenfreude, Canon John considers comes to us almost naturally, freudenfreude needs to be cultivated with patience and essentially, hard work.