The Suffering Human Being

The initial publication by Nordic Studies Press is The Suffering Human Being by Katie Eriksson from Finland. Originally published in Swedish by Liber in 1994 as Den Lidande Människan, it is the first of Eriksson s many books to be translated and published in English. It was the result of a research program on health and suffering conducted by the Department of Caring Science, Åbo Akademi University in Vaasa, Finland, where Eriksson is Professor and Department Director. In The Suffering Human Being, Eriksson integrates her caring research findings with philosophy, psychology and theology to present a broad perspective of suffering related to illness, to care, and to life. For Eriksson, the ultimate purpose of caring is to alleviate the suffering of others through compassion, confirmation of dignity, and a caring communion that is based on caritas, or love. In her Preface to The Suffering Human Being, Eriksson writes, ...I have tried to speak of a suffering where hope and despair meet, where light and darkness break like waves against each other in the distant horizon, where the rays of hope illuminate the way. It is a message about life and love and about the human being s infinite potential and the all-embracing communion of love that unites human beings around the world... Together with Katie Eriksson, the editors of Nordic Studies Press hope that all those who read The Suffering Human Being will gain a better understanding of suffering in caring and in their own lives, and thus be better able to alleviate the suffering of others. Dr. Katie Eriksson, Åbo Akademi University in Vaasa, Finland, is a leading figure in the field of caring sciences. Her book is a philosophy and theology of caring for the suffering.