"But I have to say there is a great feeling of despair arising among young people today".
However, Kierkegaard's analysis of despair arose not simply from his interest in the human condition, but from his concern to respond to problems that he regarded as specific to the modern age.
It's hard to be motivated to violence against that which you see as beautiful, wondrous, amazing, and joyful; indeed, the greatest despair arising from wars comes from the destruction of innocence, beauty, and joy.
The first of these claims might seem obvious, even when 'suffering' is understood to mean not mere pain but existential suffering, the sort of frustration, alienation and despair that arise out of our experience of transitoriness.
Most of the scandals that leave people in despair about politics arise from this source.
One only imagines the cycle of despair that could arise.
Women rarely killed in a sudden blind rage; as the law required, more usually their loss of control arose from despair, like the final surrender of frayed elastic.
For example, when a student who holds the belief, "I am bad at math, therefore I am a bad person" (a common belief amongst some students who fear failure) faces an obstacle, emotions such as fear, despair, or anger may arise so quickly that the student doesn't have time to change his or her thinking to fend off the emotion.
One danger that arises is that simply presenting the facts can lead to dismay and despair, after which people may fall prey to depression, denial, and demobilization.
A leading exponent of neoorthodoxy, the American term for the Protestant "theology of crisis" arising from the despair of post-World War I culture, Brunner sought to reaffirm the central themes of the Protestant Reformation against the liberal theologies of the late 19th century.
