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      "body": "![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmS5fGmUURWPxuhEM7VJTggKXdGqeLQhtufbsfTkQ8jW8s/image.png)\n\nI have been thinking a lot about happiness lately, and a recent post here on Steemit precisely on that subject made me want to post a small note with my findings so far.\n\nThe English word “happy” is very curious in that it is often used in contexts which have little to do with happiness. For example, to the request of “would you please mop the floor after you are done sweeping it?” a maid can reply in perfect English “yes, I'd be happy to do it!” If you were to make the same request in Spanish, and the maid were heard replying non-idiomatically “¡sería feliz haciéndolo!”, not a few would be left scratching their heads. Outside of this curious context, both English and Spanish speakers, as well as speakers of other languages, associate the word “happiness” with a superlative state of being that has nothing to do with menial chores.\n\nWhat is this superlative state of being? The answer depends on who you ask. There are as many answers as there are (and have been) people on this earth, and seldom do they agree with each other. But more often than not it is seen as lying in the unreachable future. Others believe happiness is in the fleeting moment, and their motto is _carpe diem_. A few tragic cases believe that happiness is a thing of the past, perhaps only really enjoyed in childhood. In all cases, however, happiness is defined in hedonistic (pleasure) terms and is, therefore, completely subjective. “My happiness is mine and only mine.” For modern people, this has become so ingrained, that we vehemently resist anyone trying to tell us how we ought to live in order to be happy.\n\nFor the nerdy, happiness has been completely demystified. “Happiness is a drug,” the modern science enthusiast will say. But while the scientifically-minded tend more towards an objective (fact-based) view of happiness, it is still defined it in hedonistic terms. The science of happiness, then, will want to increase the production of the hormone responsible for that psychological state of pleasure and contentment, even by artificial means (e.g. the “happiness drug”).\n\nHere I want to propose a very different take for your consideration; one based in ancient Greek philosophy (specifically, Aristotle’s), which views **eudaimonia** (the Greek term for a superlative state of being) as a non-hedonistic and, thus, non-subjective feature of human life.\n\nIn his book, the _Nicomachean Ethics_, Aristotle first performs a linguistic analysis of the term eudaimonia. He reasons roughly as follows: If eudaimonia really is something ultimate and final, then everything we do that is of any import we do for the sake of that ultimate state. A little reflection shows this to be true. We don’t walk, drink, speak, sleep, etc. to be happy, at least not in any direct manner. But we do study, work, procreate, educate, etc. in the hopes of becoming realized, that is, of realizing all our potential as human beings. Eudaimonia or happiness, therefore, must be this: a life of action instead of a life of feeling. Feeling is a by-product. The better we perform those actions, the better the quality of the life we lead and secondarily enjoy. And what is the standard against which to measure the quality of an activity? Simple: virtue. Happiness is a life of actions according to virtue.\n\nSomeone reading this might concede that happiness is attained through virtuous activity, that is, regular actions that realize the good potential of the person (or the soul). However, he might still ask: “when will we know that we've reached our goal? After performing all these good deeds, how will one know that one is happy?” The question is similar to that which young boys and girls ask when contemplating their future: “when will I know that I’m in love?” Often the answer to that is a simple “you just will”, even though bitter experience tells us that we can be mistaken in love and the matter is highly complex. As regards happiness, Aristotle has a different answer: “you will know that you have lived a happy life at the end of it, when you can look back and weigh the good deeds vs the bad ones, and count the times you were productive vs the hours wasted away, and you find that you were the best human being that you could be…” But in fact, you might not have the opportunity for this reckoning, and your happiness will depend on the judgment of those who survive your death!\n\nTo say that this Aristotelian view is shocking to modern ears would be an understatement. But it makes sense. If happiness is the state of the fully realized human potential for good, then it doesn't seem reasonable to expect it will come to us after we have performed a specific number of virtuous actions. Rather, happiness is actualized while we act virtuously throughout our whole lives. The alternative is like a musician expecting the music to continue after he stops playing his instrument, on the reasoning that he played his instrument in order to have music as a reward, which he could then collect and enjoy while he does nothing. It simply doesn't work that way.\n\nBut wait a minute! This still seems wrong. Surely no one can be happy just carrying out acts of virtue! What if one ends up poor or in jail or friendless? Here Aristotle is the one who concedes the point, and acknowledges that the gifts of good fortune are also necessary for a happy life, but only because they facilitate the life of virtue. Such goods of fortune are a bit of money, health, friends (including family), some education, and even good looks! (The Greeks were perhaps a bit too preoccupied with physical beauty.) However, none of these things, singly or together, leads to happiness. But add virtue, and you have all the necessary and sufficient ingredients for a happy life. Think of it as positive feedback: striving for virtue leads to acquiring some money (through hard work or industriousness), health (through physical fitness), friends (through the art of gaining friends, and by being fair, generous, loyal, etc.), and education (through studiousness and perseverance). Once you have these material or external goods, they facilitate even more the virtues which produced them.\n\nNow comes the really hard part. “Acting virtuously” is not the same as “doing virtuous actions”. What is the difference? The difference is that in acting virtuously you perform your good deeds with ease, even with some pleasure, and you see no alternative but to act in that way. This is achieved only through _habituation_, such that acting virtuously becomes second nature. On the other hand, performing virtuous actions does lead eventually to acting virtuously, but because they come before the forming of the habit, the person at first finds performing them difficult, uncomfortable, and with many doubts. A happy life cannot, therefore, be a sum of disjointed virtuous actions done haphazardly, without the right feelings, without conviction, etc. They must form a coherent whole, which can only be achieved after the hard business of habituation, when acting fruitfully and rationally is the only path available to you. If we could reduce the whole thing into a modern slogan, it would be: fake it until you make it.\n\nNo doubt there will be many who find fault with Aristotle or with my presentation of his ideas. But the rough sketch I made of Aristotelian ethics is just that; there are many more details--some crucial, some less so--that I have left out of this short blog post. Hundreds of books have been written about the subject, and it would take a lifetime to address all the objections and interpretations related to Aristotle’s contribution to moral philosophy. And yet I urge you, if you are at all interested in the subject, to dig deeper. Despite all the new realities and circumstances that the modern world brings, we human beings are still largely the same today as we were 2500 years ago. Evolution hasn't had enough time to radically transform us into a different species of thinking beings, so the old adage “there’s nothing new under the sun” still holds for us quite well. \n\nIf for no other reason, I invite you to dive into philosophy and wrestle with great minds, ancient and modern, so as not to let something as crucial to our lives as happiness be forever the subject of mere opinion.",
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      "body": "![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmS5fGmUURWPxuhEM7VJTggKXdGqeLQhtufbsfTkQ8jW8s/image.png)\n\nI have been thinking a lot about happiness lately, and a recent post here on Steemit precisely on that subject made me want to post a small note with my findings so far.\n\nThe English word “happy” is very curious in that it is often used in contexts which have little to do with happiness. For example, to the request of “would you please mop the floor after you are done sweeping it?” a maid can reply in perfect English “yes, I'd be happy to do it!” If you were to make the same request in Spanish, and the maid were heard replying non-idiomatically “¡sería feliz haciéndolo!”, not a few would be left scratching their heads. Outside of this curious context, both English and Spanish speakers, as well as speakers of other languages, associate the word “happiness” with a superlative state of being that has nothing to do with menial chores.\n\nWhat is this superlative state of being? The answer depends on who you ask. There are as many answers as there are (and have been) people on this earth, and seldom do they agree with each other. But more often than not it is seen as lying in the unreachable future. Others believe happiness is in the fleeting moment, and their motto is _carpe diem_. A few tragic cases believe that happiness is a thing of the past, perhaps only really enjoyed in childhood. In all cases, however, happiness is defined in hedonistic (pleasure) terms and is, therefore, completely subjective. “My happiness is mine and only mine.” For modern people, this has become so ingrained, that we vehemently resist anyone trying to tell us how we ought to live in order to be happy.\n\nFor the nerdy, happiness has been completely demystified. “Happiness is a drug,” the modern science enthusiast will say. But while the scientifically-minded tend more towards an objective (fact-based) view of happiness, it is still defined it in hedonistic terms. The science of happiness, then, will want to increase the production of the hormone responsible for that psychological state of pleasure and contentment, even by artificial means (e.g. the “happiness drug”).\n\nHere I want to propose a very different take for your consideration; one based in ancient Greek philosophy (specifically, Aristotle’s), which views **eudaimonia** (the Greek term for a superlative state of being) as a non-hedonistic and, thus, non-subjective feature of human life.\n\nIn his book, the _Nicomachean Ethics_, Aristotle first performs a linguistic analysis of the term eudaimonia. He reasons roughly as follows: If eudaimonia really is something ultimate and final, then everything we do that is of any import we do for the sake of that ultimate state. A little reflection shows this to be true. We don’t walk, drink, speak, sleep, etc. to be happy, at least not in any direct manner. But we do study, work, procreate, educate, etc. in the hopes of becoming realized, that is, of realizing all our potential as human beings. Eudaimonia or happiness, therefore, must be this: a life of action instead of a life of feeling. Feeling is a by-product. The better we perform those actions, the better the quality of the life we lead and secondarily enjoy. And what is the standard against which to measure the quality of an activity? Simple: virtue. Happiness is a life of actions according to virtue.\n\nSomeone reading this might concede that happiness is attained through virtuous activity, that is, regular actions that realize the good potential of the person (or the soul). However, he might still ask: “when will we know that we've reached our goal? After performing all these good deeds, how will one know that one is happy?” The question is similar to that which young boys and girls ask when contemplating their future: “when will I know that I’m in love?” Often the answer to that is a simple “you just will”, even though bitter experience tells us that we can be mistaken in love and the matter is highly complex. As regards happiness, Aristotle has a different answer: “you will know that you have lived a happy life at the end of it, when you can look back and weigh the good deeds vs the bad ones, and count the times you were productive vs the hours wasted away, and you find that you were the best human being that you could be…” But in fact, you might not have the opportunity for this reckoning, and your happiness will depend on the judgment of those who survive your death!\n\nTo say that this Aristotelian view is shocking to modern ears would be an understatement. But it makes sense. If happiness is the state of the fully realized human potential for good, then it doesn't seem reasonable to expect it will come to us after we have performed a specific number of virtuous actions. Rather, happiness is actualized while we act virtuously throughout our whole lives. The alternative is like a musician expecting the music to continue after he stops playing his instrument, on the reasoning that he played his instrument in order to have music as a reward, which he could then collect and enjoy while he does nothing. It simply doesn't work that way.\n\nBut wait a minute! This still seems wrong. Surely no one can be happy just carrying out acts of virtue! What if one ends up poor or in jail or friendless? Here Aristotle is the one who concedes the point, and acknowledges that the gifts of good fortune are also necessary for a happy life, but only because they facilitate the life of virtue. Such goods of fortune are a bit of money, health, friends (including family), some education, and even good looks! (The Greeks were perhaps a bit too preoccupied with physical beauty.) However, none of these things, singly or together, leads to happiness. But add virtue, and you have all the necessary and sufficient ingredients for a happy life. Think of it as positive feedback: striving for virtue leads to acquiring some money (through hard work or industriousness), health (through physical fitness), friends (through the art of gaining friends, and by being fair, generous, loyal, etc.), and education (through studiousness and perseverance). Once you have these material or external goods, they facilitate even more the virtues which produced them.\n\nNow comes the really hard part. “Acting virtuously” is not the same as “doing virtuous actions”. What is the difference? The difference is that in acting virtuously you perform your good deeds with ease, even with some pleasure, and you see no alternative but to act in that way. This is achieved only through _habituation_, such that acting virtuously becomes second nature. On the other hand, performing virtuous actions does lead eventually to acting virtuously, but because they come before the forming of the habit, the person at first finds performing them difficult, uncomfortable, and with many doubts. A happy life cannot, therefore, be a sum of disjointed virtuous actions done haphazardly, without the right feelings, without conviction, etc. They must form a coherent whole, which can only be achieved after the hard business of habituation, when acting fruitfully and rationally is the only path available to you. If we could reduce the whole thing into a modern slogan, it would be: fake it until you make it.\n\nNo doubt there will be many who find fault with Aristotle or with my presentation of his ideas. But the rough sketch I made of Aristotelian ethics is just that; there are many more details--some crucial, some less so--that I have left out of this short blog post. Hundreds of books have been written about the subject, and it would take a lifetime to address all the objections and interpretations related to Aristotle’s contribution to moral philosophy. And yet I urge you, if you are at all interested in the subject, to dig deeper. Despite all the new realities and circumstances that the modern world brings, we human beings are still largely the same today as we were 2500 years ago. Evolution hasn't had enough time to radically transform us into a different species of thinking beings, so the old adage “there’s nothing new under the sun” still holds for us quite well. \n\nIf for no other reason, I invite you to dive into philosophy and wrestle with great minds, ancient and modern, so as not to let something as crucial to our lives as happiness be forever the subject of mere opinion.",
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