Suffering and art pose two challenges for idealism. The world is so full of cruel and senseless suffering, most of which is out of sight, suffering being neither of the day nor the night. It cannot be balanced against any other value and so it threatens any philosophical synthesis that tries to make a place for it, as much as it does any which ignores it. In idealism an individual consciousness is insignificant and insufficient in relation to the whole, but a suffering consciousness cannot be measured in terms of parts and wholes. The time of suffering cannot be redeemed by being dissolved in eternity, it has its own kind of absolute. The problem or art is just the opposite. Art invites an elevated consciousness, it thrives on a discernment equal to that of philosophy, yet it does not see the same things, does not validate the philosopher's vision. In some respects art parodies spiritual understanding, and in others it seems a humbler and more honest version, spirituality cut down to size. A franker and more transparent exaltation, it presumes that the world is irreducible to spirit, and that the difficult duality is maintained. With irony and a grounded engagement it feels itself adequate to assess philosophy, and its judgement is merciless.