The Pursuit of True Happiness is NOT Selfish

            I revisit the concepts of eudaimonia and Beatific Vision. “Ugh! We already know this!” I ignore them this time and push them to consider the question: “If we think of eudaimonia or Beatific Vision or transcendent happiness as our goal, doesn’t that suggest our entire goal to be self-serving? Isn’t this kind of thinking selfish and the opposite of Agapic Love?” There is always one student who wants to find the hole in my argument and so they ask this question, thinking they have found the flaw in Western Philosophy and Theology, like they are some revolutionary! I beat that student to the punch, and I ask the question first because there is a rational answer to whether this can be consistent with Agape and humility and self-gift. Of course, we have already answered the question in our discussion about Aristotle and Aquinas, but, again. My students have compartmentalized that information and it does not matter to them after they have taken the test. No! Every piece of information matters! This is a basic premise to Sacramentality!

Our Lady of Knock Shrine in Knock, Co. Mayo, Ireland. It was the Joy of the Apostles at His Resurrection that gave Jesus happiness. Indeed, it is the Joy we find in Him in our conversion that pleases Him. Our happiness and His are entwined. (photo P. Smith)

            For Aristotle, eudaimonia is “human flourishing”, that is, it is the condition in which all humans are content while not being stagnant. It is the condition where all human beings are happy, not necessarily because they are constantly experiencing the same pleasurable moment for eternity; Aristotle and later philosophers and theologians, including Aquinas, explain how Beatific Vision, eudaimonia beyond human ability, is a state where one is able to “contemplate Virtue”. Indeed, as they say, Virtue is its own reward. If we are made to be virtuous, as one practices virtue increasingly, the first thing they witness is the Joy of “the Other”, the object of their virtue. The Joy of “the Other” echoes in the heart and soul of the one who practices Virtue. Eudaimonia or Beatific Vision is the “Joy” that we can now contemplate; it is the state in which we can observe the effects of our virtue, and as we see “the Other” as Beloved, we recognize our Authentic Self, Lover, in action. At the same time, we contemplate the virtue of “the Other” as they Love us. We contemplate the way in which “the Other” recognizes our dignity in how they Love us, and in that contemplation, we view the Authentic Self of “the Other”. We are made to Love and to be Loved. Virtue is that Authentic Self in action. Eudaimonia or Beatific Vision is the Joy we experience when we can contemplate that action as we and “the Other” live it. Because the whole process requires the self and “the Other”, the goal of Eudaimonia or Beatific Vision cannot be considered self-serving the same way eating a second piece of pie when others have had none is self-serving. Eudaimonia or Beatific Vision is only achieved within the context of relationship, therefore, “the Other” is necessarily as important as the self in the practice of Virtue and the telos of Eudaimonia or Beatific Vision.