The Morality of Happiness

Abstract

The book examines the major traditions of ancient ethical theory, showing that they share a common theoretical structure. They are examples of eudaimonism, a type of ethical theory in which the basic concepts are those of happiness and virtue. The book looks at the way this type of theory is articulated in Aristotle, and then at the differing versions of it to be found in Epicurus, the Stoics, and Academic and Pyrrhonian Sceptics. We find a common structure: we all implicitly seek a final end in all our actions, but different theories offer rival accounts of what this consists in. To gain a proper understanding of the ancient debates, we have to examine the basic concepts of happiness and virtue, which in modern ethical theories are often subject to misunderstanding. The book first aims to recover the ancient understanding of these basic notions, then examines the role of nature in ancient ethical justification, the role in eudaimonism of other‐concern, and finally the extent to which the ancient theories demand revision and transformation of everyday ethical thought.

Skillful coping with and through technologies

“…Indeed, perhaps there is more than an analogy: in the spirit of Dreyfus one could argue that this is still a far too intellectualist conception of virtue. For Annas, virtue as skill requires reflection (Annas 1993) and the development of an intellectual component (Annas 1995). For her, the stress is on reflection and decision: 'The skill analogy requires that the agent reflect and achieve by reflection a unified grasp of the general principles underlying her patterns of action and decision.'…”

Wise Desire-Priorities: Hedonism or Moral Integrity?

“…Realizing that our lives are finite, we might think that up until now we have wasted our time (Rogers, 1961). Ironically, we then sometimes respond by even more hedonism, or suppress the thought of mortality rather than facing it, as Aristotle recommends (Annas, 1993;Nussbaum, 1993, see also Rogers, 1961). Aristotle (trans.…”

“…As eudaimonistic theory recommend certain aims as universally good for human beings (Annas, 1993;Nussbaum, 1993), people are advised to direct their efforts towards these ends while remaining indifferent towards much of what people normally would find valuable (Nussbaum, 1994). If this is true, we should expect that accumulated life experience (or increased age) would be negatively predictive of a hedonistic attitude to life and positively predictive of an attitude of moral integrity, reflecting Aristotle's view.…”

“…argued that happiness meant successful goal-attainment where the best life (i.e., eudaimonia) is the life where we exercise and develop our capacities to fulfill the requirements of the virtues, being indifferent of other desires (see also, Annas, 1993;Nussbaum, 1994). In stark contrast, modern theories in the utilitarian tradition argues that fulfillment of all desires (i.e., everything that matters to a person, normatively, as this person sees it) contributes to a good life-including hedonistic desires (Sidgwick, 1874(Sidgwick, /1982Griffin, 1986Griffin, /1990Parfit, 1984Parfit, /1991.…”

The advice of the wise

“…European philosophers do not agree among themselves about the road to happiness either (Annas, 1993). The early Greek philosopher Epicurus maintained that everybody can reach the state of feeling pleasant by following the 'four-part cure': 'don't fear God, don't worry about death, what is good is easy to get, and what is terrible is easy to endure'.…”