Boethius, The Consolation 3.5

. . . “Wherefore you have each of these placed before you as the form of human happiness: wealth, honors, power, glory, and pleasure. Epicurus considered these forms alone, and accordingly determined upon pleasure as the highest good, because all the others seemed but to join with it in bringing enjoyment to the mind.

“But to return to the aims of men: their minds seem to seek to regain the highest good, and their memories seem to dull their powers. It is as though a drunken man was seeking his home, but could not remember the way there.

“Can those people be altogether wrong whose aim it is to lack nothing? No, there is nothing that can make happiness so perfect as an abundant possession of good things, needing nothing that belongs to others, but in all ways sufficing for itself.

“Surely those others too are not mistaken who think that what is best is also most worthy of reverence and respect. It cannot be any cheap or base thing, to attain which almost all men aim and strive.

“And is power not to be accounted a good thing? Surely it is. Can that be a weak thing or forceless, which is allowed in all cases to excel?

“Is renown of no value? We cannot surrender this, that whatever is most excellent, has also great renown.

“It is hardly worth saying that happiness has no torturing cares or gloom, and is not subject to grief and trouble; for even in small things, the aim is to find that which it is a delight to have and to enjoy.

“These, then, are the desires of men: they long for riches, places of honor, kingdoms, glory, and pleasure; and they long for them because they think that thereby they will find satisfaction, veneration, power, renown, and happiness. It is the good then which men seek by their different desires, and it is easy to show how great a force Nature has put therein, since in spite of such varying and discordant opinions, they are all agreed in the goal they seek, that of the highest good.”

—from Book 3, Prose 2

Despite the differences of opinion on what actually constitutes happiness, all the options are really just variations on the same theme. We broadly recognize that happiness must be the highest good, that with which we can be content, and that which leaves nothing more to be desired, but we are uncertain as to what this specifically entails. So we concentrate on aspects of life that can somehow share in what is good, but that are not complete goods.

The mistake is always the same. We come across something that can be of benefit, and we confuse it with the greatest benefit. What is relative and conditional is mistaken for what is absolute and unconditional. What is, in a sense, an incomplete part is assumed to be the whole.

So I may see that money can provide for some of the things I think I need, and I jump to the conclusion that it can fulfill everything that I need. Happiness would indeed have to leave me without any want, and I start to think that money can relieve me of all want.

I may see that receiving the respect of others can provide for some of the things I think I need, and I jump to the conclusion that it can fulfill everything that I need. Happiness would indeed have to be something worthy of total admiration, and I start to think that honor can put me in the highest place.

I may see that power can provide for some of the things I think I need, and I jump to the conclusion that it can fulfill everything that I need. Happiness would indeed have to have the most perfect strength, and I start to think that my own strength can make me invincible.

I may see that great achievement can provide for some of the things I think I need, and I jump to the conclusion that it can fulfill everything that I need. Happiness would indeed have to be of the greatest excellence, and I start to think that my own efforts can offer me glory.

I may see that pleasure can provide for some of the things I think I need, and I jump to the conclusion that it can fulfill everything that I need. Happiness would indeed have to provide the most perfect joy, and I start to think that pursuing my own pleasures can provide absolute contentment.

The Epicureans thought pleasure was the best of these, though I have seen plenty of folks who have picked money, or fame, or power, or grandeur. Each one focuses only on one imperfect reflection.

Happiness will certainly have to possess everything, to be honored above all else, to be what is most powerful, to stand as the greatest of all things, and to provide the fullest satisfaction. Yet none of these qualities in themselves are the fullness of happiness, its source, measure, or complete breadth. A lesser degree is not the same as the maximum, and one instance is not the same as a complete presence. All good things are desirable, but not everything we desire is necessarily good.

I appreciate the image of the drunkard stumbling about, knowing he needs to get home, but not sure how to get there. In a darker time in my life, a concerned friend offered to drive me home after a night of excess. I thought I saw a familiar landmark here, or that I recognized the best route over there, but I ended up leading him in the totally wrong direction.

Only seeing one little bit of the whole path will not get me where I need to be going. So it is with happiness. 

Written in 9/2015