The Ancient Greek Idea of Eudaimonia
We all say we want to be happy, but the pursuit of happiness often seems like a wild goose chase.
Maybe the problem is not so much with us, or the world we live in, but with the very concept of happiness.
The Meaning of Life
For Aristotle, a thing is most clearly understood by looking at its end, purpose, or goal. The purpose of a knife is to cut, and it is by seeing this that one best understands what a knife is; the goal of medicine is good health, and it is by seeing this that one best understands what medicine is (or, at least, ought to be).
Now, if one persists with this, it soon becomes apparent that some goals are subordinate to other goals, which are themselves subordinate to yet other goals. For example, a medical student’s goal may be to qualify as a doctor, but this goal is subordinate to her goal of healing the sick, which is itself subordinate to her goal of making a living by doing something useful. This could go on and on, but unless there is a goal that is an end in itself, nothing that we do is actually worth doing.
In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle (d. 322 BCE) asks what this end might be. What, he asks, is the “supreme good” for man? What is the final purpose of everything that we do?
His answer is, happiness.
And of this nature happiness is mostly thought to be, for this we choose always for its own sake, and never with a view to anything further: whereas honour, pleasure, intellect, in fact every excellence we choose for their own sakes, it is true, but we choose them also with a view to happiness, conceiving that through their instrumentality we shall be happy: but no man chooses happiness with a view to them, nor in fact with a view to any other thing whatsoever.
Why did we get dressed this morning? Why do we go to the dentist? Why do we go on a diet? Why am I writing this article? Why are you reading it?
Because we want to be happy, simple as that.
That the meaning of life is happiness may seem moot, but it is something that most of us forget somewhere along the way.
Oxford and Cambridge are infamous for their fiendish admissions interviews, and one question that is sometimes asked is, ‘What is the meaning of life?’ So, when I prepare prospective doctors for their medical school interviews, I frequently put this question to them. When they flounder, as invariably they do, I mischievously ask them, “Well, tell me, why are you here?”
Our exchange might go something like this:
“What do you mean, why am I here?”
“Well, why are you sitting here with me, prepping for your interviews, when you could be outside enjoying the sunshine?”
“Because I want to do well in my interviews.”
“Why do you want to do well in your interviews?”
“Because I want to get into medical school.”
“OK, but why do you want to get into medical school?”
“Because I want to become a doctor.”
“Why in the world do you want to put yourself through all that trouble?”
And so on.
But the one thing that the students never tell me is the truth:
“I am sitting here, putting myself through all this, because I want to be happy, and this is the best way I have found of becoming or remaining so.”
Somewhere along the road, they have lost the wood for the trees, even though they are only at the beginning of their journey.
But there is a catch.
When Aristotle speaks of “happiness”, he is not referring to the pleasant feeling that we ordinarily have in mind. The Greek word he uses is eudaimonia, which is a much richer, fuller, and more demanding concept.
What Is Eudaimonia?
Eudaimonia (literally, ‘good soul’, ‘good god’) is often translated from Greek simply as ‘happiness’—but that is very misleading.
The word ‘happy’, which is related to ‘happen’ and ‘perhaps’, derives from the Norse happ for ‘chance’, ‘fortune’, or ‘luck’. From Irish to Greek, most European words for ‘happy’ originally meant something like ‘lucky’—one exception being Welsh, in which it originally meant ‘wise’.
Another word for ‘happy’ or ‘fortunate’ in Old English is gesælig, which, over the centuries, morphed into our ‘silly’.
Eudaimonia, in contrast, is anything but silly. It has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with hard work. It is a much deeper, fuller, and richer concept than happiness, sometimes articulated in terms of flourishing or living a life that is worthwhile or fulfilling.
Many philosophical schools in antiquity thought of eudaimonia as the highest good, often even the very aim and purpose of philosophy, although various schools such as the Epicureans and the Stoics may have conceived of it in somewhat different terms.
What can be said is that, unlike happiness, eudaimonia is not an emotion but a state of being—or even, especially for Aristotle, a state of doing. As such, it is more stable and reliable, and cannot so easily be taken away from us. Although it leads to pleasure or satisfaction of the deepest kind, it does not come from pleasure, but is according to higher values and principles that transcend the here and now.
Fine, but what does that mean in practice?
For Aristotle, it is by understanding the distinctive function of a thing that one can understand its essence. For example, one cannot understand what it is to be a gardener unless one can understand that the distinctive function of a gardener is ‘to tend to a garden with a certain degree of skill’.
Whereas human beings need nourishment like plants, and have sentience like animals, their distinctive function, says Aristotle, is their unique and god-like capacity to reason. Thus, our supreme good is to lead a life that enables us to use and develop our reason, and that is in accordance with reason.
By living our life to the full according to our essential nature as rational beings, we are bound to flourish, that is, to develop and express our fullest human potential, regardless of the ebb and flow of our good or bad fortune.
To put this in modern terms, if we develop our thinking skills, if we guard against lies and self-deception, if we train and master our emotions, we will, over the years, make better and better choices, do more and more meaningful things, and derive ever-increasing satisfaction from all that we have become and all that we have done, and are yet able to do.
Aristotle’s happiness is not something we feel: it is something we grow into.
Continue Exploring
If you enjoyed this introduction to Aristotle’s ethics, you’ll find much more in The Gang of Three: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, which explores Aristotle’s philosophy alongside that of his teacher, Plato, and his teacher’s teacher, Socrates.
You may also enjoy
