Introduction
This is a reflection which promotes a view already held—it is not investigative, it is assertive.
Reflection
Why should we want to be happy? Because Aristotle tells us it’s the best thing? And how does he work that out? Big doses of rationality with little appreciation of the reality of life. It is Socrates who shows us what should be our aim—and that only as a side issue—a good place to lie on the grass. And the beautiful grassy bank may be surrounded by tarmac. It is not an ideal world after all—though some would wish it so. It is not an ideal life—though some would wish it was. There is tarmac. We cannot create something which is not. We cannot truly inhabit the product of Aristotle’s rational mind. It is a unicorn, and we cannot ride unicorns, nor pet them, nor admire them. I think we should look for the grassy bank. It may be right in the middle of a car park!
Comments
Happiness is held out in front of us as the only truly meaningful ethical carrot that exists. And like a carrot in that sense, it is always apparently just ahead, drawing us on, leading us to the next position in life where it remains in just the same relative relationship to us as before. The message here is simple—the good life is to be found in the life we lead. It is not contained in some idealised world that is presently beyond us. It is right here, at this moment, amongst all that seems incongruous or unsatisfactory.
