"You purposely misunderstand what
I say," he says, "for I too say that no one can live pleasantly
unless he lives honorably also, and this cannot be the case with dumb animals
who measure the extent of their happiness by that of their food. I loudly and
publicly proclaim that what I call a pleasant life cannot exist without the
addition of virtue."
Yet who does not know that the greatest
fools drink the deepest of those pleasures of yours? Or that vice is full of
enjoyments, and that the mind itself suggests to itself many perverted, vicious
forms of pleasure?
In the first place arrogance, excessive
self-esteem, swaggering precedence over other men, a shortsighted, no, a blind
devotion to his own interests, dissolute luxury, excessive delight springing
from the most trifling and childish causes.
Also talkativeness, pride that takes a
pleasure in insulting others, sloth, and the decay of a dull mind which goes to
sleep over itself. . . .
—Seneca
the Younger, On the happy life,
Chapter 10 (tr Stewart)
The
sensualist may hope that he can have it both ways, and that he can live for
pleasure while at the same time being decent. He may even insist, as does
Seneca’s adversary, that the only pleasant life would of necessity also have to
be a virtuous one.
I can
understand such a temptation immediately, because it removes so many of the
apparent troubles I face in being happy, especially the perception of
conflicting standards. If I am to pursue pleasure, I will also find myself
being a good person at the same time.
Centuries
later, John Stuart Mill offered a similar argument. Pleasures, he said, should
be judged by their quality, and not merely by their quantity. Hence the
greatest pleasures will be those that fulfill the higher functions of man, and
we will find that true satisfaction proceeds from being thoughtful, refined,
and considerate. This is the context of his famous quote, "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates
dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
At the level of theory,
this would hardly make pleasure the highest good anymore, because pleasure is
in turn measured and determined by the greater standard of wisdom and virtue.
Seneca will return to this aspect of his argument shortly.
For the moment, and at the
level of practice, it is surely sufficient to point out that a life of
satisfaction will hardly have to be a decent one. Look out into the world,
observe your neighbor, read the news, and you will promptly see that pleasure
seekers are usually not honorable and decent people at all. Even when the
sensualist is intelligent in his pursuit of satisfaction, he simply discovers
more clever ways to gratify himself.
I see
all the inhumanity around me, and I realize that what most of it has in common
is the pursuit of what feels good at the expense of doing good. Arrogance,
greed, lust, gluttony, laziness, anger, jealousy, or violence will proceed when
I put my pleasure first, and consider other people simply as a means for my pleasure.
If I am to estimate everything through my passions, I choose to close myself
off to everything except those passions. If I make my reason subservient to my
feelings, my mind will not see things are they truly are, but as I wish them to
be.
I think
of all the times someone has done me wrong, and all the times I have done
someone else wrong, and it is a rejection of the good of the person for the
fulfillment of my own desire that usually binds them together.
I may
put lipstick on a pig. I may add all the appearances of culture, refinement,
good manners, and sophisticated tastes, but there is no way to elevate selfish
lust. It is vain, arrogant, and thoughtless by its very nature, because it
makes the world revolve around my feelings.
Written in 11/2004
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