In our last couple +1s (here and here), we’ve been exploring wisdom from Donald Robertson’s new book How to Think Like Socrates.
Let’s continue that discussion.
Today we’re going to talk about the #1 piece of wisdom from the first philosopher.
Donald tells us: “‘Virtue’ is the conventional translation for the Greek word arete. Modern academics tend to prefer ‘excellence,’ as arete refers to those qualities that make something exceptionally good. A good table, for instance, is one that is sturdy and even, a good horse is one that is strong and fast—but what makes good humans? …”
He continues by saying: “What does it mean to live well and flourish? The Greek word used to denote this concept is eudaimonia. It’s an unusual word and difficult to properly translate, but eudaimonia basically refers to the condition of someone who is living a good life, or rather the best possible life. It has traditionally been translated by the word happiness, but this derives from an outdated English usage. ‘Happy’ once meant blessed or fortunate. There’s still a trace of this earlier meaning in its antonym hapless, which means wretched or unfortunate. Happiness, in its original sense, is the opposite of being hapless. Happiness is more than just a feeling, in other words: it’s a state of being.”
And, he tells us: “A good therapist will tell you that there’s a big difference between ‘feeling good’ and ‘being good,’ or even between ‘feeling happy’ and ‘being happy.’ It’s an example of our tendency to confuse appearance and reality—feeling good seems good to us. An addict, for instance, might be happy in the sense of feeling good but be utterly hapless in the sense of living badly. The word eudaimonia, by contrast, means having a happy life in the sense of being fortunate or flourishing.”
Finally, he says: “We no longer even have a satisfactory word in English to describe this concept, whereas the ancient Greek philosophers took it to be the most important thing in life. Maybe that’s a sign that over the intervening centuries we’ve grown more complacent, more dependent on the opinion of others, and neglect to reason for ourselves about the fundamental goal of life.”
That’s from a chapter called “The First Philosopher.”
As you know if you’ve been following along, Objective I in EVERYTHING we do together (from the book to Basic Training in the app to our Heroic Coach program to the Heroic Workshops our instructors give in their communities!) is simple…
We need to know THE ULTIMATE GAME.
What is the ultimate game?
As the ancient Greek and Stoic philosophers tell us: We want to live with ARETÉ so we can experience EUDAIMONIA. Or, as the modern positive psychologists put it, we want to put our virtues in action so we can flourish.
I absolutely love the connection Donald makes between happiness in its original sense and its antonym hapless. I also love the distinction between FEELING happy and BEING happy—which reminds me of Ward Farnsworth’s wisdom from The Practicing Stoic.
He tells us: “Stoics regard virtue as sufficient to produce happiness on all occasions, and also as necessary for it. The happiness centrally valued by the Stoic is eudaimonia, or well-being—the good life rather than the good mood. But the Stoic believes that virtue gives rise to joy and to peace of mind as well. Virtue produces these good consequences as side effects. The primary mission of the Stoics, in other words, is to be helpful to others and serve the greater good, and they don’t do this to make themselves happy. They do it because it is the right and natural way to live. But doing it in that spirit, as it turns out, makes them happy.”
Let’s connect this wisdom to the last couple +1s…
Know this…
The SOPHIST acts like a confectioner.
They’ll pander to your desires to have a life of ease and luxury with zero effort. They’ll sell you get-rich and get-fit and get-happy quick schemes that “taste good” and make you FEEL good in the moment but AREN’T actually good for you.
The PHILOSOPHER, on the other hand, who wants you to actually BE good will act less like a confectioner selling you candy and more like a doctor giving you bitter medicine that doesn’t taste good in the moment but will lead to enduring happiness.
This is why the old school Stoics would say that attending a lecture by a Sophist would typically end in applause for the speaker and make you feel all fired up whereas a lecture by a philosopher would often end in stunned silence.
The sophist makes you feel like you just got a nice, relaxing massage.
The philosopher makes you feel like you just had surgery.
Here’s to the micro-soul-surgeries that help us forge excellence so we can activate our Heroic potentials, Hero.
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