Commentary
In “I Suffer Therefore I Am: Portrait of the Victim as Hero,” Pascal Bruckner exposes the moral vanity behind our obsession with victimhood. With his customary erudition, the French essayist turns his gaze upon a civilization that has transfigured suffering and pain into prestige. If Descartes proclaimed, I think, therefore I am, Bruckner’s age replies: I suffer, therefore I exist.
