Schadenfreude as a corollary of justice: in response to the latter, the former should follow

Schadenfreude is, in some instances, a really good thing. That is the thesis of John Portmann (see bibliography below). For a short introduction to Portmann’s thought, go here. In this post, I discuss the thesis in connection with the Bible.

It’s important to make some distinctions. Popular culture, all culture, drips with more than one kind of Schadenfreude. Schadenfreude (A) I will use to refer to the pleasure felt on seeing someone get what they deserve. If this kind of Schadenfreude is to be condemned, then low-brow, middle-brow, and high-brow culture, a great swath of human inclination and experience, is rotten to the core. Not just pop culture must be condemned. The Bible must be condemned as well. Schadenfreude (A) is not only attested in Scripture; it is commanded (e.g., Psalm 68:2-4; Rev 18:20; a very long list of similar texts might be provided).

(At least) two other kinds of Schadenfreude are identifiable. I will refer to them as Schadenfreude (B) and (C). Schadenfreude (B) is summed up by the Italian proverb, “mal comune, mezzo gaudio” – “shared misfortune, half a joy.” Schadenfreude (B), it seems to me, is a healthy reaction to shared suffering. You will hear it in the twitter of an AA meeting. You will feel it when you see a movie like Titanic. It’s almost the same thing, or a subspecies, of what is otherwise referred to as “catharsis.”

Schadenfreude (C), on the other hand, referred to as שמחה לאיד / morose delectation in the terminology of the Talmud and the schools, is damnable according to the combined witness of religious traditions around the world (I could be wrong about this, but I have yet to see any evidence that points in the other direction). The usual definition: felt pleasure in seeing someone suffer misfortune. To be sure, pop culture is full of morose delectation. The Bible condemns this pleasure in no uncertain terms. A verse to learn by heart:

לֹעֵג לָרָשׁ

   חֵרֵף עֹשֵׂהוּ

שָׂמֵחַ לְאֵיד

    לֹא יִנָּקֶה

He who mocks the poor

     affronts his Maker;

he who rejoices over another’s misfortune

     will not go unpunished.

(NJPSV Proverbs 17:5)

The cited condemnation should not be read as a license to find just as much pleasure in someone else’s misfortune by means of sympathy, or “Mitleid” as the German language has it. In his furious critique of traditional morality, Nietzsche smelled a rat when it comes to Mitleid. Only an uncritical fool would deny that Nietzsche saw clearly, at least to this extent: sympathy, rather often, is Schadenfreude (C) in disguise.

Note that in impugning Schadenfreude (C) one might think that Schadenfreude (A) is also impugned. It has been understood to impugn it. I look at it this way. It is dangerous to build one’s life around Schadenfreude (A). It is even more dangerous to do without it altogether. Schadenfreude (A): healthy in moderate doses.

Psalm 35, analysis shows, is the request of one who has become the butt of Schadenfreude type C to have the experience of Schadenfreude type A. Concomitant with the latter, the supplicant also anticipates his felt pleasure, and that of his friends, in the Author of his vindication, the God to whom he prays with vehement hope. The second half of Psalm 35, 18 lines that continue the preceding 22 lines, for a total of 40 lines, is given below. The theme of joy crops up repeatedly: Schadenfreude (C), Schadenfreude (A), joy in the anticipated gift of Justice.

Is there such a thing as innocent joy? If “innocent” means “ignorant of all evil,” probably not. Joy is not even possible without a substrate of sorrow, without scars that bespeak a hard-fought fight. There are even those who prefer sorrow to joy, who nurse their pain so as to enjoy the pleasures of sorrow. That is not what we have in Psalm 35. The author of Psalm 35 knew that sorrow is an enemy to defeat, and looked therefore to his God for succor.

23  17    אֲדֹנָי כַּמָּה תִּרְאֶה

            הָשִׁיבָה נַפְשִׁי מִשֹּׁאֵיהֶ֯ם     מִשֹּׁאֲגִי֯ם

            מִכְּפִירִים יְחִידָתִי

24  18    אוֹדְךָ בְּקָהָל רָב

            בְּעַם עָצוּם אֲהַלְלֶךָּ

25  19    אַל־יִשְׂמְחוּ לִי

            אֹיְבַי שֶׁקֶר

26         שֹׂנְאַי חִנָּם

            יִקְרְצוּ עָיִן

27  20    כִּי־לֹא שָׁלוֹם יְדַבֵּרוּ

            וְעַל֯ רִגְעֵי־אֶרֶץ      יַעֲ֯לוּ

28         דִּבְרֵי מִרְמוֹת יַחֲשֹׁבוּן

     21    וַיַּרְחִיבוּ עָלַי פִּיהֶם

29         אָמְרוּ הֶאָח הֶאָח

            רָאֲתָה עֵינֵינוּ

23  17   Lord, how long will you look on?

                   Rescue my life from roaring beasts,

                   my precious life from lions!

24  18   I will acclaim you in a great assembly,

                   praise you in a mighty crowd.

25  19   Do not let my faithless enemies

                   exult on my account;

26         my wanton foes

                   leer with the eye.

27  20   Their speech is not peaceable,

                   they attack the land’s quiet ones;

28         they plot deceitful acts,

      21         they opened their mouth against me;

29         they said, “Aha! Aha!

                   Our eyes have seen it.”

30  22   רָאִיתָה יְהוָה

           אַל תֶּחֱרַשׁ

31        אֲדֹנָי אֲל־תִּרְחַק מִמֶּנִּי

     23   הָעִירָה וְהָקִיצָה

32        לְמִשְׁפָּטִי אֱלֹהַי

            וַאדֹנָי לְרִיבִי

33  24   שָׁפְטֵנִי כְצִדְקְךָ

           יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי

34        וְאַל־יִשְׂמְחוּ־לִי

     25   אַל־יֹאמְרוּ בְלִבָּם

35        הֶאָח נַפְשֵׁנוּ

           אַל־יֹאמְרוּ בִּלַּעֲנוּהו

30  22   יהוה, you have seen it:

                   do not be mute!

31         Lord, do not keep far from me,

      23           rouse yourself, wake up!

32        To my cause, my God!

                   To my side, Lord!

33  24   Take up my cause, in your justice,

                   my God יהוה!

34         Do not let them exult on my account,

      25         do not let them say in their heart,

35         “Aha! Our wish!”

                   Do not let them say, “We devoured him.”

36  26   יֵבֹשׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ יַחְדָּו

           שְׂמֵחֵי רָעָתִי

37        יִלְבְּשׁוּ־בֹשֶׁת וּכְלִמָּה

           הַמַּגְדִּילִים עָלָי

38  27   יָרֹנּוּ וְיִשְׂמְחוּ

           חֲפֵצֵי צִדְקִי

39        וְיֹאמְרוּ תָמִיד

           יִגְדַּל יְהוָה

           הֶחָפֵץ שְׁלוֹם עַבְדּוֹ

40  28   וּלְשׁוֹנִי תֶּהְגֶּה צִדְקֶךָ

           כָּל־הַיּוֹם תְּהִלָּתֶךָ

36  26   Let those gleeful when I am in trouble

                   be shamed and go pale one and all.

37        Let those who triumph over me

                   wear shame and dismay.

38  27   Let those who desire my vindication

                   sing with glee.

39         Let them always say,

                   “Triumph is יהוה’s,

                    who desires his servant’s well-being.”

40  28   My tongue will rehearse your justice,

                   all day long your praise.

 

Disclaimer: from my, opinionated point of view, it has been all down hill from Portmann’s 2000 book whose theme is, precisely, Schadenfreude. Still, I love his choice of themes. For a general audience, it wouldn’t be hard to best him, both in terms of depth of analysis and wisdom of judgment, but I’m not sure anyone has.

John Portmann Select Bibliography

• A History of Sin (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, Korean translation, 2008)
• Bad for Us: The Lure of Self-Harm (Beacon, 2004)
• Sex and Heaven: Catholics in Bed and at Prayer (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
• In Defense of Sin (St. Martin's, 2001; Portuguese translation, 2005)
• When Bad Things Happen to Other People (Routledge, 2000)

Comments

[Alex Silva]

"I look at it this way. It is dangerous to build one’s life around Schadenfreude (A)." I think this is your key sentence. The reason is because so often, we and others around us justify any kind of Schadenfreude in our own minds by imagining that it is Schadenfreude (A). I would almost go so far as to say that we ALWAYS justify ourselves, in our own minds, this way.

I say, to be safe, avoid (A) throughout your life. To paraphrase someone we all know and love, by the same measure you judge, it will be done to you. Leave it to God, whether that be in the present age or the age to come, i.e. the new heavens and the new earth (and the new hell, perhaps).

[JohnFH]

Hi Alex,

Mighty fine blog you have there. Congratulations!

To be honest, I think you are making a hash of things. The fact of "leaving it to God," which is exactly what is done in an imprecatory prayer or a prayer that looks forward to divine vindication, is not incompatible with Schadenfreude type A. Take a close look at Psalm 35 and Revelation 18 if you haven't already.

Indeed, if one is being treated unjustly and "leaves it to God" but does not anticipate and look forward to justice being done with at least as much ardor as possesses the average person when watching a CSI, Law & Order, or Cold Case episode, the "leaving," I think, is insincere and double-minded, the kind of thing James opposes in chapter 1 of his letter.

Furthermore, Jesus and Paul took the risk of judging others - the Pharisees, heretics, sinners, enemies of the faith - even though by so doing they knew that before God they would be judged by the same standard.

Well-educated people rarely criticize anyone. All that proves is that Jesus and Paul do not make good role models for the petit bourgeois.

The "judge not, so that you will not be judged" passage is one of the most abused in all of Scripture. It has become the motto of spineless individuals in all ages. Your approach is "safety first." The prophets, Jesus, and Paul show us a different way.

[scott gray]

john--

schadenfreude (a) is the 'moral of the story' for an incredible number of contemporary justice movies, isn't it? chuck norris can't let a moment go by without it.

the seduction of schadenfreude (a) is that it feels good. this is actually one of the seductions of any justice response. but like all justice responses, implemented through kindness or through violence, as many or more new injustices are created when our framework for responding to injustice is not done in some kind of relationship, either personal or collectively in community, with the 'opponent.' this is where schadenfreude (a) and (c) conflate.

i've felt schadenfreude (a) myself. it feels good. but it has never felt good enough to seek. rather, the feeling of schadenfreude is an indicator that something is not optimized in a justice response, and needs attention.

peace--

scott

[JohnFH]

Hi Scott,

I remember hearing an interview with an anti-Vietnam war activist - of the serious kind, which also involved a plot to overthrow the government. He had spent many years in prison. Asked if he had changed his mind at all, he didn't mention anything about his stance on the war, but he did say that he now understood the importance of sseing retribution done. I think he was referring to some of the hard core criminals he came to know.

When something very dear to you has been taken away by someone else - your dignity, your children, your wife or husband - sometimes the need for justice and retribution is overwhelming, and if it arrives, even if served "cold," it often brings with it a limited sense of satisfaction.

Chuck Norris is not to my taste. I prefer Miami CSI and Numbers.