.
. . “This then,” said she, “is a simple, single thing by Nature, only divided
by the mistakes of base humanity; and while men try to gain a part of that
which has no parts, they fail both to obtain a fraction, which cannot exist,
and the whole too after which they do not strive.”
“Tell
me how they fail thus,” I said.
“One
seeks riches by fleeing from poverty, and takes no thought of power,” she
answered, “and so he prefers to be base and unknown, and even deprives himself
of natural pleasures lest he should part with the riches which he has gathered.
Thus not even that satisfaction reaches the man who loses all power, who is
stabbed by sorrow, lowered by his meanness, hidden by his lack of fame.
“Another
seeks power only; he scatters his wealth, he despises pleasures and honors that
have no power, and sets no value upon glory. You see how many things such a one
lacks. Sometimes he goes without necessaries even, sometimes he feels the bite
and torture of care; and as he cannot rid himself of these, he loses the power
too which he sought above all things.
“The
same argument may be applied to offices, glory, and pleasure. For since each one
of these is the same as each other, any man who seeks one without the others,
gains not even that one which he desires.”
“What
then?” I asked.
“If
any man desires to obtain all together, he will be seeking the sum of
happiness. But will he ever find that in these things which we have shown
cannot supply what they promise?”
“No.”
“Then
happiness is not to be sought for among these things that are separately
believed to supply each thing so sought.”
“Nothing
could be more plainly true,” I said. . . .
—from
Book 3, Prose 9
The more
something is one, the more it is perfect. The more something is joined
together, the more complete it becomes. The more something is good, the more it
includes all lesser goods within it. If I am seeking that which leaves nothing
to be desired, and to which nothing more can be added, then I must also of
necessity be seeking unity, simplicity, and purity.
Instead
of pursuing only what is relative, I should turn to what is absolute. Instead
of focusing merely on the part, I should look at the whole. Instead of limiting
myself to the effect, I should proceed to the cause.
This may
sound like terribly abstract metaphysics, but it has always helped me to
examine such matters as concretely as possible. If I am looking at many things
in front of me, what makes them many is precisely that in some way or other
they are all different from one another. If they are different, that means that
each has something that the other doesn’t, and while each is good in its own
way, it is hardly good in the way of another.
Consider
a table filled with all sorts of different tools. Every tool is designed for
its own distinct task, sometimes one that is quite specific or specialized. A
screwdriver, a hammer, a wrench, or a saw will be helpful for one job, but
useless for another.
And now
think about how people will sometimes use only one tool at the expense of the
others, and then they wonder why they aren’t getting the job done. It will be
fruitless trying to mow the lawn with a kitchen knife, or frame a picture with
a blowtorch. We then get quite frustrated, and even blame the tools, and say
that the job is impossible to complete.
This is
something like what happens when a man narrows in on one aspect of life at the
expense of the others, and then he wonders why he is not yet happy. He confuses
the “one” thing he needs with only one separate part of the whole, and does not see that the “one” thing he needs is
what binds all the parts together in
the whole. He has divided things instead of joining them.
I was talking
about tools with my daughter one day when we I was tinkering in the garage, and
she thought deeply for a moment. “Wait,” she said, “if each tool is really only
good for a few things, what’s the one thing that can get all the things done?
Is there like some kind of super-tool?”
These
are the sorts of moments as a father, or as a teacher, or generally just as a
human being, that I enjoy the most. She started imaging what sorts of qualities
a tool would need to have in order to get everything done, but quickly realized
no one physical object could ever do all those things. A jack-of-all-trades is
the master of none.
“So
what’s that one thing you would need,” I asked her, “that’s better than all the
tools, and that can help you fix anything?”
She
frowned for a bit, and then suddenly smiled, pointing with her finger at her
head. “You need a person who knows how to use all the tools, and when to use
them!”
No one
tool on the workbench is enough; the unity of purpose within the mind of the
craftsman is what provides the whole context. Look to the source.
So one
man believes he will be happy by becoming rich, and he dedicates himself
completely to this task, but he doesn’t pay any attention to power or pleasure.
Another man believes he will be happy by becoming powerful, but he doesn’t pay
any attention to pleasure, or honor, or wealth, or glory, or anything else that
shares in the whole of goodness.
Whatever
particular form this error may take, it involves confusing the individual
pieces with the way those pieces should all fit together.
Written in 9/2015
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