A Great Reward

We admire those who give of themselves for others. The term for this is altruism. People give of their time, money and even their lives for a cause. Sometimes it is damaging, and such behavior causes dependence to the receiver, as in a spoiled child or someone who doesn't know how to work. It isn't unusual to see a rich kid who squanders the wealth given to him. Some say that no one can be altruistic because we always have some sort of reward in mind. For instance, a mother of the spoiled child wants to feel needed. We only sacrifice to bring a benefit of some kind to ourselves.  How many religions promise eternal rewards? We see even the best politician will make sure he gets the full benefits of his office. What is in it for me? A protester might want more freebies with less work.

The point in this is that selfishness itself is neither good nor bad. Selflessness is the same way. Either one can be destructive if misapplied or have great benefits if applied properly. A self-indulgent person only thinks of the pleasure of the moment and doesn’t think about the future. A temperate person will forgo pleasures for a greater good. Both are in self-interest. The latter contains better rewards unless, of course, it is in excess. This person could be a miser and never enjoy the rewards.

So when we look at Easter and the sacrifice given by God, we have to ask ourselves, what was in it for him? Why would someone who can create whatever he wants, live on this crappy earth and suffer like he did? Well, the answer to that one is easy…his reward is you.  

Impartation

 I have been fascinated by the study of ethics as a result of wanting to be a good and decent person. I want to avoid the pitfalls of those around me and make a safe environment for those I care for. Groups were eager to invite me in so they could improve me (for a fee of course). But I found that those who associate good behavior with belonging to a group were more obstinate than the people outside. It didn't make sense until I stood back and assessed what was going on. Really, what good does it do to forgive when you are a spiteful person? Does belonging to a political group or church solve bad character? Those who base their confidence in relationships with others seem to be the most vulnerable to losing good character. It doesn't matter if it is a Star, a Minister or a politician, no one should depend on them because they are popular; even if they claim to care about the environment, have a mandate from God or care about the poor. Most times the contrary is true. The only people we can really know are those close to us and the only one we can change is ourselves. I am not saying we should be anti-leadership, but the responsibility for improving our lives is ours alone. Character is an important foundation for everything we do.  It can’t be imparted by a prayer or a cause; it is formed in our hearts by paying attention how we treat first ourselves and then others. This is a matter of the heart and not a matter of learning creeds or even scriptures. All the law is summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Excellence

In the last book, Aristotle explained that it is best to find happiness within ourselves over all external goods and pleasures. External things can add to personal happiness but cannot replace it. Happiness of the soul originates in the irrational part of our soul where our emotions also reside. We might call this area today our "heart". The rational part of our soul, our mind, participates in happiness but more in an organizational sense. Since these overlap, we shouldn’t get caught up in specific boundaries but names make it easier to study the general areas. There are principles that guide our hearts and they steer us toward doing what is best. There is also a natural tendency that steers toward things that are contrary to what is right. Those who don’t manage it have a hard time finding happiness.  Virtue is using every area of the soul at its best. When we do this we are happy. Happiness itself is sought above anything we can acquire and it originates from excellence of the soul. This excellence isn’t a comparison to other people but it is using what we have within ourselves to its greatest potential. Keeping away from comparisons yet excelling at what we do best, brings the most satisfaction to our lives.

To excel in the arena of the mind, it takes teaching and absorbing material. It also requires experience. Excellence of the heart requires forming good habits. This doesn't come naturally. Improvements are contrary to nature in the same way that gardening requires tending. It is in human nature to want improvement. Neglect might seem natural but it doesn't satisfy this desire for better things. Passions and desires may reside our hearts, but it takes diligence to steer them in the right direction. This is key to having good character.

There are natural things we have such as sight that just work well without much effort. Virtue however has to be exercised. Musicians and builders have to practice their skill until it is second nature to them in much the same way. We become just by doing just acts and temperate by doing temperate acts. Just think what it would be like to have entire communities based on excellence of character. It should always be the purpose of every legislation and law to improve on this.

Many musicians and builders have natural talent but they still have to practice their skills to avoid being sloppy and neglectful of their talents. It is the same for moral excellence. By facing fears we become brave and by purposing to be just in our transactions, we become just. This builds confidence in us and makes it a lifestyle. If we avoid dealing with things, our passions and appetites can get away from us. A temperate person will behave in a way that is appropriate for the circumstance. In order to have certain character traits, a person has to act accordingly. It takes diligence to continue having the right responses. These habits are easiest to form when we are young therefore raising our youth properly is important. But everyone has room for maintenance and improvement. 

This might seem basic but it is important to have clarity on the subject matter before we move on to what acts are best for given situations. There are many variables involved but we want to leave theoretical discussions behind and get into situations and behaviors. Next we will examine what is commonly called the doctrine of the mean. We will see that right and wrong are more of a matter of keeping out of the extremes of defect and excess for particular behaviors and situations.  

Our Best

My hope is that this brings clarity to those who read it as helps us examine the world of emotions and passions in an objective way. It seems that faced with issues in life it is best to step back and look things over without preconceived notions. This kind of thinking is relaxing to me. I love seeing passion in people (probably too much) and motives, good or bad, fascinate me. So here is the ending to book one. Only nine left...   

The goal in finding virtue is to bring what is good and what brings happiness to humans. Human virtue originates in the soul and so we are safe to say that happiness comes from there also. A doctor is interested in getting the best out of one’s body. He will want to know all about every area and how it works. Knowing all about the human soul is equally important especially since it is the arena of happiness. This isn't an exhaustive study but we will catch the highlights enough to answer questions sufficiently in the topics we discuss. We don’t want to get distracted or bored. There are numerous theories where the physical, emotional and spirit separate but these aren't pertinent to our study. Our focus will be on the rational and irrational areas of our souls.

The irrational part has two parts. One part can be observed in anything that is living; the part that causes nutrition and growth. From embryo to adults, there is something inside us that commands our functions to do what they were designed to do. We see it at work the most when we are asleep. During this time we don’t participate in good or bad since that part of the soul is unaware. We certainly cannot hold people accountable for their dreams. Some say that good people have better than normal dreams but this is a futile debate in the same way that saying that happiness is influenced by the dead. We have to conclude that this part of the soul is for nourishment only and cannot be a part of human excellence since we have no control over it.

But there is a part of the irrational soul where we do participate in decisions. That is our passions and desires. Some people seem to have the natural ability to do obey what is right.  The rest of us struggle with this. We all have an element inside of us that fights against doing what is best for our soul. It affects the soul in the same way that a malfunctioning nerve does in the body. A limb with a bad nerve might spasm or go numb. A malfunction of the soul isn't as obvious. Where the negative element comes from is anyone’s guess, but we have to recognize that it exists and it is kept in line with rational principles. A temperate man will keep his passions in line according to these principles while an undisciplined person follows the unproductive part, many times against his own will.

 The two parts of the irrational soul are vegetative without reason while the appetite and desire part of our soul has an element of consideration. Take into account those we love for example; We don’t do mathematical accounting when making decisions concerning them but our decisions are affected by how we feel about them. This part of the soul is influenced more by giving and taking advice than teaching data and knowledge. We use these advised principles to temper our emotions and feelings. It can be said that this particular part of the irrational soul also has two parts: The passions and feelings themselves that are to be taken at face value and a part that is principled that we obey like a father. Now that we recognize the different areas of the soul we can go on to virtue. 

Virtue has two parts that parallel what we have been discussing. There is both the intellectual and the moral part. Philosophy, understanding and practicalities are intellectual pursuits. Liberality and temperance are moral pursuits. While having knowledge gives one merit, directing our passions properly gives a person good character. Virtue is simply developing both our intellect and character in a manner that brings out the best in a person. 

The Gateway to the Divine

We have been working our way through Aristotle’s study on Ethics. The fact that people don’t change over the centuries is an interesting one. There doesn’t seem to be much evolution in thought between then and now. The same questions are being asked and similar answers only by different people. I see this opinion as a critical one because it represents the conclusions of a couple generations of people devoted to the purity of critical thinking and it forms the basis for civil, meaning people learning to get along in co-operative groups. Our founders used it also. They pointed out how groups advance from anarchy, to mobs from patriarch to tribe and from tribe to civil government. The trouble is that in all of these we are still human and have to deal with freeloaders and despots, Laziness and greed. When there is so much potential for cooperative art or human accomplishment, it can be wasted by bad character. So here is the next installment with the conclusion that happiness of the soul, what can also be called contentment, joy, and peace, is what we all seek more than anything. It is the soul of a person that is fascinating as is the divine origin of happiness.  

At what point do we acquire enough to complete our happiness? Does there always have to be a carrot hung in front of us? Some say that it is the culmination of what was our entire life and death. All we can say is that a good person will tap into happiness as life unfolds.

It is prudish to say that other people’s success doesn't affect our happiness. We are happy when our friends and family are doing well. It is also hard to define failure. Our disappointments vary from profound to light and the same goes for those of our family and friends. The duration varies also, and some go as far as saying lawless people will continue to suffer after death. We, however, don’t know if the dead experience good and evil as the living do. We have to assume the influence of disappointments and victories is as weak to them as it is from us to them. But we do need to mention it since many religions have doctrines pertaining to the dead.

The question remains whether happiness is an achievement or an endowment. Praise is always due to comparisons. A job well done is better than an inferior one. Praise has to do with achievement according to the particular discipline; a great runner, a great orator. Even when referring to goodness and virtue, we praise someone for their achievements and using discipline. What is interesting is that we describe God as being happy and desiring to acquire happiness. This suggests that happiness is an endowment that supersedes God himself, although we might praise him because he is greater than all else.  Praise has to do with achievement according to certain standards that require comparisons. We cannot put happiness in this category. It isn't virtue itself since no one praises happiness as they would justice. Happiness is a blessed state and something that is divine and beyond virtue itself.

There is truth in saying that pleasure has a similar divine origin. It is something that is regulated by morals, but in itself pleasure isn't good or bad. Seeking pleasure isn't always praised but it is always sought in one way or another. What we are getting at is that happiness is the ultimate pleasure and it is prized and perfect. All we do, all we seek, comes from this first principle. It is the cause of all the good that we claim; something divine and prized.

We know happiness originates in our soul and the gateway is virtue, so by studying virtue, maybe by chance we can reveal the true nature of happiness. We see it depends on our interactions with others and so this is a good point to begin a study of the soul itself…

Reality

 Aristotle mentions love in the sense of what a person enjoys and therefore desires. This is an important part of happiness, but only after virtue, which is the way to keep our human vehicle from crashing. It is hard to love someone properly when you are consumed in an addiction. It is hard make use of your talents when no one allows you near them because you are a thief. Having good character is at the core of being able to enjoy anything we love. Books and entertainment today disconnect the two to keep an interesting storyline. They present the hypothetical that we might just be able to do everything we desire without any consequences. Of course it sounds fun. Armed robbers are glorified as a nice people just wanting to get by.  The reality of what it takes to be willing to kill for a dollar is concealed in these stories. The victim’s loss of hard earned possessions and the agony of the loss of life are disregarded. Entertainers might give the impression that a casual affair is desirable and doesn’t hurt anyone. But the contrary is true. The two people involved are the first to be racked with guilt. It stays for a lifetime. Their spouses are stuck with a mixture of hatred, disappointment and grief.  The intensity may wane with the years but the feelings never leave. There is shame that is experienced from the loss of good character toward children and friends. The reality is that the only people who can successfully do these things casually are those with a “maimed virtue” or “seared conscience”. They are the sort of people we have to be careful around and have despised in the past. That is why character is so important. It is better to be reality happy than delusional happy. You may have heard “Be careful, you might get what you wish for.”  That is what we are talking about when we say virtue. Getting what we love the wrong way is the surest way to an unhappy life. We have all seen examples of this in the lives of those around us. 

Confidence

The more rational a person is, it is reasonable to assume the greater his capacity for true happiness. Children have less capacity to understand and are easily swayed. It seems the virtue that goes with happiness is somewhat enhanced by experience and maturity. But even when someone experiences a good life and falls into misfortune later in life we don’t call him happy.

Does this mean that complete happiness is unachievable? Some go as far as saying that complete happiness is only found in the afterlife. Since we connect happiness with good activities on the earth, this is an absurd conclusion. Maybe they mean that the potential for misfortune and evil ends with death. This has its contradictions also because these same people treat the dead as though they see what we are doing. If this is true, then the misfortunes of his descendants will cause him unhappiness. If the dead experience what we do, then fortunes and misfortunes will continue and be observed. This makes the saying “Only the dead are happy” not make sense at all. It also avoids the question we are asking. What is a happy life?

 Does one have to be at the end of his life and look back to truly have had a happy life? This presents a paradox.We want to live well each day but while we have the future looming over our heads, there is also potential for a loss of happiness. We want it to be something more permanent. Let’s look at the variables. It cannot come from fortunes since they come and go. A person who depends on them is like a chameleon, changing from happiness to wretched throughout life. Success and failure in life do not depend on fortunes but they are mere additions. Virtuous activities toward oneself and others are the essence of true happiness.

We can say with certainty that no function of man brings as much stability as virtuous activities. Science may change as does our knowledge of things. What is the most valuable is also the most durable and unchanging. A person who is happy by possessing virtue is better at studying science and will enjoy it all the more. The person who is engaged in virtuous action and contemplation will bear changes in life nobly and decorously. This person will be considered good and beyond reproach.

We can have small misfortunes that don’t take away happiness, while a lot of great events will add to our happiness. If a person appreciates great events, they add beauty to life. But when things turn out bad, they can maim happiness and bring pain and hindrances. Nobility shines through during these times as a person bears with resignation many misfortunes. Not by becoming insensitive to the pains and avoiding them but the soul possesses greatness and nobility.  These are the characteristics that bring happiness to our lives. A person who is happy in this way can never become hateful and mean. This truly good and wise person takes changes in life and makes the best out of the circumstances; in the same way a shoemaker will make the best use of the hides given to him. True happiness cannot be taken away and although we might not call that person blessed, we can always call him happy. So virtue is necessary for happiness and it will also carry you through when misfortune hits.

A person of integrity isn't many colored and changeable. He cannot be swayed from his happy state easily. Even if disaster falls, he will recover his happiness in a short time; confident that if he continues to do what is right, things will fall into place.