C
Cure of Ars
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Using just reason and natural law it is clear to see that we cannot be happy without being connected to something beyond ourselves, something transcendent. The major faith traditions throughout history testify to this. The Greeks i.e. Aristotle (and latter Christian’s) recognized four levels of happiness. I am quoting the following;
1. laetus: Happiness in a thing. Thus, “I see the linguini, I eat the linguini, it makes me feel good, I am happy.†This kind of happiness is based on something external to the self, is short-lived and, on reflection, we do not consider that it is all there is to human happiness.
2. felix: The happiness of comparative advantage. “I have more of this than X.†“I am better at this than X.†This kind of happiness results from competition with another person. The self is seen in terms of how we measure up to others. It has been called “the comparison game.†Such happiness is rather unstable and, if one fails, can lead to unhappiness and sense of worthlessness. Exclusive pursuit tends to oppress others. Most people would not imagine a world as satisfactory if it was composed of only happiness #2 type people.
3. Beatitudo: (Beatitudo = happiness or blessedness). The happiness that comes from seeing the good in others and doing the good for others. It is, in essence, other-regarding action. Happiness #3 is, in some sense, at war with happiness #2. One cannot be at the same time in competition with someone else and doing the good for and seeing the good in them. Most people would prefer a world (community, family, relationships) structured around the pursuit of happiness #3 than entirely based in happiness #2. Happiness #3 is higher than happiness #2. The problem with #3 is that it is necessarily limited. We cannot be someone else's everything. For example, we or they, will die and if our happiness is contingent upon them, it dies with them. “There must be more than this.â€Â
4. Sublime Beatitudo: (sublime = “to lift up or elevateâ€Â). This category, the most difficult to describe, encompasses a reach for fullness and perfection of happiness. The fullness, therefore, of goodness, beauty, truth and love. So we recognize in this category, those things that are, in a sense, beyond what we are capable of doing purely on our own.
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/a ... p0016.html
Doing what we want (in a selfish way) does not lead to lasting happiness only connecting to the transcendent God will lead to lasting happiness. Like St. Augustine said, "Thou hast created my soul, O God, after Thee, and it is restless until it rests in Thee." We are made for the eternal and we can never be fully happy until we find it.
1. laetus: Happiness in a thing. Thus, “I see the linguini, I eat the linguini, it makes me feel good, I am happy.†This kind of happiness is based on something external to the self, is short-lived and, on reflection, we do not consider that it is all there is to human happiness.
2. felix: The happiness of comparative advantage. “I have more of this than X.†“I am better at this than X.†This kind of happiness results from competition with another person. The self is seen in terms of how we measure up to others. It has been called “the comparison game.†Such happiness is rather unstable and, if one fails, can lead to unhappiness and sense of worthlessness. Exclusive pursuit tends to oppress others. Most people would not imagine a world as satisfactory if it was composed of only happiness #2 type people.
3. Beatitudo: (Beatitudo = happiness or blessedness). The happiness that comes from seeing the good in others and doing the good for others. It is, in essence, other-regarding action. Happiness #3 is, in some sense, at war with happiness #2. One cannot be at the same time in competition with someone else and doing the good for and seeing the good in them. Most people would prefer a world (community, family, relationships) structured around the pursuit of happiness #3 than entirely based in happiness #2. Happiness #3 is higher than happiness #2. The problem with #3 is that it is necessarily limited. We cannot be someone else's everything. For example, we or they, will die and if our happiness is contingent upon them, it dies with them. “There must be more than this.â€Â
4. Sublime Beatitudo: (sublime = “to lift up or elevateâ€Â). This category, the most difficult to describe, encompasses a reach for fullness and perfection of happiness. The fullness, therefore, of goodness, beauty, truth and love. So we recognize in this category, those things that are, in a sense, beyond what we are capable of doing purely on our own.
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/a ... p0016.html
Doing what we want (in a selfish way) does not lead to lasting happiness only connecting to the transcendent God will lead to lasting happiness. Like St. Augustine said, "Thou hast created my soul, O God, after Thee, and it is restless until it rests in Thee." We are made for the eternal and we can never be fully happy until we find it.