Eudaimonia

Eudaimonia (or eudaemonia; pronounced "yew-de-MO-nia") is an Ancient Greek word, usually translated as "happiness." It is significant in the writings of Greek philosophers concerned with contentment and well-being, particularly in the field of ethics. Although numerous Greek thinkers discuss the best path to happiness, the most influential treatment of eudaimonia occurs in the work of Aristotle (384–322 Before the Common Era [BCE]), notably in his Nicomachean Ethics and Eudemian Ethics. His view is that happiness can only be attained via a rational combination of wisdom, virtue, and pleasure. In the ancient world, eudaimonia was regarded as a dynamic, practical activity rather than an abstract theory. Renewed interest in the concept in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has recognized this and has led to its usage in the field of developmental psychology. It is, therefore, an excellent example of a historical idea finding new relevance many centuries after its first application.

Brief History

Eudaimonia (which derives from Greek words meaning "good spirit") is associated with the rational pursuit of happiness as a key element in living a good life. Its precise ingredients differed among the Greek thinkers who considered the question, although all agreed that virtue must play an essential part. According to Socrates (469–399 BCE), virtuous behaviors were, first, the only guarantee of happiness, and second, all that happiness required. Socrates’s pupil, Plato (c. 429–347 BCE), who was the first to record his mentor’s views, incorporated them into his own philosophy, maintaining that cultivation of the virtuous soul is the key to happiness. Aristotle’s subsequent thesis is that happiness results from the rational exercise of virtue. Only humans possess reason, he said, and human happiness (as opposed to the "lower" pleasures of animals) must proceed from actively using reason to perform the virtuous deeds of which only humans are capable and perform them to the utmost of their ability. Those best able to do this—and some are better suited than others for various internal and external reasons—are the happiest. Later Greek thinkers made adaptations to the Aristotelian view, using it to argue that virtue is the sole and sufficient component of eudaimonia and, therefore, a human’s highest duty (argued by Cynics and Stoics), or their route to the highest pleasures (argued by Epicureans).

During the middle decades of the twentieth century, eudaimonia resurfaced as a field of inquiry in applied ethics. The philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe found it useful in arguing the case for virtue ethics in opposition to prevailing utilitarian theories, which tended to value practical, quantitative worth above all. Later in the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, eudaimonia also began to influence psychological theories of well-being and fulfillment, systematizing a number of active, behavior-led approaches to happiness based on contribution, and commitment and affiliation to shared value systems. Applications to multiple areas of behavioral psychology have been explored, with a focus on developmental psychology, adolescent-adult transitioning, and parenting.

Overview

Plato adopted the Socratic belief that any theory of happiness must be built on a foundation of virtue. Taking this as his starting point, he refined it to claim that the centrality of virtue is what maintains all the other elements of the self in harmony, upholding the Greek principle of rational proportionality. If this balance, with virtue at its core, is achieved, contentment will naturally follow. As outlined in a number of key texts, particularly the Republic, Plato saw this as essential in politics and government, not only in the regulation of the individual soul.

Aristotle acknowledged that there were already multiple interpretations of eudaimonia, so he intended to provide a definitive answer to the question in his two profoundly influential works, Nicomachean Ethics and Eudemian Ethics. He defined eudaimonia as a good to be pursued in and of itself, for its own sake. Furthermore, it must be self-sufficient, requiring nothing else for the fulfillment of a happy life. He recalls that happiness has been sought in three main ways: via the pursuit of wisdom, virtue, or pleasure. His contribution to the discussion—and the most important account of it—is that true eudaimonia will contain a rational equilibrium of all three components. His argument is that happiness (unlike wisdom or virtue) is an activity rather than a state of being, while pleasure is the unhampered pursuit of an activity. His conclusion is that if a person is pleasurably allowed the unhampered pursuit of the dual states of wisdom and virtue, that person achieves eudaimonia—and is happy. In this way, Aristotle brought together wisdom, virtue, and pleasure in a new, active configuration.

Cynic philosophers, primarily Diogenes (c. 404–323 BCE), emphasized that virtue alone is the source of happiness and sufficient in itself, irrespective of outside circumstances. The founder of the Stoic school of thought, Zeno of Citium (c. 334–262 BCE), and its adherents, such as Cleanthes (331–232 BCE) and Chrysippus (280–207 BCE) also held that virtue is not only key to eudaimonia but also adequate for it. They discounted Aristotle’s notion that negative life events can diminish a person’s capacity for happiness, arguing that the performance of just, brave, and generous deeds outweighs any exterior influence. The Stoics asserted that this best enabled people to live in accordance with the dictates of nature—the highest good and the surest path to happiness. Although Epicurus (341–270 BCE) retained the necessity of virtue, it was for him not an ingredient of eudaimonia but a path to a refined form of pleasure. The cultivation of pleasure (and avoidance of pain) is at the heart of Epicurean thought, and virtue is the route to the most uncontaminated kinds of pleasure. The exercise of virtue, as the best means of attaining these pleasures, is recommended because such pleasures will yield happiness.

These attitudes, all deriving in essence from Aristotle, were formative to theories of virtue across the classical Western world. Although thinkers disagree about what constitutes happiness and how best to strive for it, the re-emergence of eudaimonia in the twenty-first century suggests a fruitful example of how modern progress often owes a debt of gratitude to the legacy of the past.

Bibliography

Ackrill, J. L. "Aristotle on Eudaimonia." Essays on Plato and Aristotle, edited by J. L. Ackrill, Clarendon, 1997, pp. 179-200.

Baril, Anne. "Eudaimonia in Contemporary Virtue Ethics." The Handbook of Virtue Ethics, edited by Stan van Hooft, Routledge, 2014, pp. 17-27.

Bloomfield, Paul. "Eudaimonia and Practical Rationality." Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy. Virtue and Happiness: Essays in Honour of Julia Annas, edited by Rachana Kamtekar, Oxford UP, 2012, pp. 265-286.

Burton, Neel. “What Is Eudaimonia?” Psychology Today, 26 June 2024, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/202006/what-is-eudaimonia. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

Hughes, Gerard J. The Routledge Guidebook to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Routledge, 2013.

Hursthouse, Rosalind. "Virtue Ethics." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 11 Oct. 2022, plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-virtue. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

Jost, Lawrence J., and Roger A. Shiner, editors. Eudaimonia and Well-Being: Ancient and Modern Conceptions. Academic, 2002.

Meyer, Susan Sauvé. Ancient Ethics. Routledge, 2008.

Reeve, C. D. C. Action, Contemplation, and Happiness: An Essay on Aristotle. Harvard UP, 2012.

Russell, Daniel C. Happiness for Humans. 2nd ed., Oxford UP, 2015.

Waterman, Alan S., editor. The Best within Us: Positive Psychology Perspectives on Eudaimonia. APA, 2013.