Suffering is a universal phenomenon whose constant presence, actual or potential, structures all human and non-human lives. The Centre of Excellence in Meliorist Philosophy of Suffering (MePhiS) places meliorism – the idea that the world can and should be made better by means of active human efforts – at the core of ethical approaches to suffering. Meliorism recognizes the reality of suffering in its physical concreteness and complex psychological and social manifestations. By integrating philosophical inquiry with interdisciplinary investigations in the history of ideas, systematic theology, literary interpretation, and the study of vernacular religious and non-religious meaning-making, MePhiS shows that our human-scale choices and piecemeal efforts matter.
MePhiS, led by Professor Sami Pihlström together with the principal investigators of its five research groups, is funded by the Research Council of Finland for an eight-year period (2026-2033), hosted and co-funded by the