ASF 3 LESSON 2
The
Philosopher’s
Quest for
Happiness:
Eudaemonia
Veronica Dy-Liacco, PhD (with citations from
ASF 3 Module 1 by Alcain and Navares, 2022)
Objectives of this
ASF 3: LESSON 2 THE PHILOSOPHER’S QUEST FOR
Lesson
AT THE END OF THIS LESSON
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:
HAPPINESS: EUDAEMONIA
IDENTIFY THE DIFFERENT THEORIES
OF HAPPINESS FROM THE PAGAN
PHILOSOPHERS
STUDENTS READ AND REFLECT ON
PSALM 1
PRAY THAT THEY MAY FIND TRUE
HAPPINESS IN GOD
Photo credit: USA Nursing Student
Council FB page (March 12, 2020),
PEW SHARING [Link]
ACTIVITY(10PTS.)
Pew sharing with submitted output and
recitation from 3 groups.
How do you define happiness?
What role does your desire for happiness occupy in
your daily life?
ASF 3 LESSON 1
Photo credit: Jessica, Catholic Cuisine
(2013),
[Link]
WHAT IS
013/10/the-2013-saint-o-lantern-
[Link]
ASF 3: LESSON 2 THE PHILOSOPHER’S QUEST FOR
ETHICS FOR
AUGUSTINE?
Simply put, ethics for Augustine is to
HAPPINESS: EUDAEMONIA
inquire about the supreme good for its
own sake, and which is the source of
true happiness in this life.
HE DEFINES ETHICS AS A MORAL
PHILOSOPHY, AND THEREFORE PHILOSOPHY
MUST AIM FOR THIS HAPPINESS. (CITY OF GOD
19.1-3)
Art by Jean Fouquet, Enthronement of
the Virgin, or The Trinity in its Glory (ca.
1445).
AUGUSTINE SURVEYS THINGS THAT
MAKE MAN HAPPY AS PER THE
PHILOSOPHERS (C/O MARKUS VARRO)
1. PLEASURE 2. REPOSE 3. PLEASURE + 4. THINGS OF
REPOSE (C/O NATURE
THINGS THAT MAKE THE NOT HAVING TO DEAL
EPICURUS)
BODY FEEL GOOD. EX., WITH ANY PERSONAL HEALTH AND
DELICIOUS FOOD AND INCONVENIENCES. EX. SAFETY, THE
DRINK, A MASSAGE, ETC. HAVING TO CLEAN UP EPICURUS COMBINES CULTIVATION OF ONE'S
AFTER ONESELF, DEAL BOTH FOR THE MENTAL GIFTS, ETC.
WITH HORRIBLE ULTIMATE LEVELS OF
COMMUTE TO AND FROM HUMAN HAPPINESS
WORK/SCHOOL, ETC. THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED.
ASF 3: LESSON 2
AUGUSTINE
ASF 3: LESSON 2 THE PHILOSOPHER’S QUEST FOR
CHALLENGES THE
PHILOSOPHIES OF
HIS TIME
He contends that happiness is something we
HAPPINESS: EUDAEMONIA
should not strive to obtain for ourselves, but
which comes, rather, "as a gift. Our task is to
live patiently, in faith and hope"
(Couenhoven 2013 p. 4).
AUGUSTINE IS CREDITED AS THE FIRST TO HAVE
DISCUSSED ETHICS AS A SPECIFIC PART OF
THEOLOGY, AND YET DISTINCT FROM IT (DEMAN
1957).
FOR AUGUSTINE,
ETHICS IS A MORAL
ASF 3: LESSON 2 THE PHILOSOPHER’S QUEST FOR
PHILOSOPHY
Many philosophies ask what makes a man
happy, however these to Augustine are no
more than "empty dreams" that "differ from
HAPPINESS: EUDAEMONIA
the hope which God gives to us" (City of God
19.1).
AUGUSTINE INQUIRES OF THE GOOD, "HOW [THE
GOOD] RELATES TO US, AND HOW WE SHOULD
RELATE TO [THE GOOD]" - WHICH MAKES HIM
DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER PHILOSOPHERS
BEFORE HIM (ASF 3 MODULE 1 ACT. 2.1)
Art by Benventunto Di Giovanni,
Christ in Limbo (1491).
THE AMBIGUOUS
ASF 3: LESSON 2 THE PHILOSOPHER’S QUEST FOR
PLACE OF ETHICS
IN THEOLOGY
Ethics for Augustine is not completely reliant
on human agency, but on the grace of God.
This grace transforms our loves to be more
HAPPINESS: EUDAEMONIA
oriented to God, who is the greatest Good.
MORAL TRANSFORMATION FOR AUGUSTINE IS
ABOUT GOD'S WORK OF TRANSFORMATION IN US
(SEE ALSO COUENHOVEN 2013 P, 5).
MORAL
ASF 3: LESSON 2 THE PHILOSOPHER’S QUEST FOR
TRANSFORMATION
IN AUGUSTINE
Moral Transformation is less about human
agency or striving (ie., in the exercise of
virtue), and more about hope in the work of
HAPPINESS: EUDAEMONIA
Christ for the transformation of our hearts
into Christ himself.
AUGUSTINE'S ETHICS IS ABOUT THE LOVE OF
CHRIST THAT DWELLS IN US.
PHILOSOPHICAL
BACKGROUND
INFLUENCED BY NEO-PLATONISM
BUT DID NOT ACCEPT IT COMPLETELY.
MODIFIED THE PHILOSOPHY TO FIT
HIS NEWLY FOUND CHRISTIAN VIEWS.
DEALT WITH THE QUESTION OF GOOD
AND EVIL, HE COUNTERED THAT THE
BODY IS NOT THE SOURCE OF EVIL,
SOURCE: ARTHUR HOLMES, A HISTORY OF
PHILOSOPHY 20: AUGUSTINE AND NEO-
PLATONISM, HTTPS://[Link]/QPBVJS4PU-4.
PHILOSOPHICAL
BACKGROUND
AND FOUNDATIONS
AUGUSTINE RETAINED THE NEO-
PLATONIC VIEW THAT THE SOUL IS
SUPERIOR TO THE BODY.
BUT AS A CHRISTIAN THINKER,
AUGUSTINE TAUGHT THAT THE SOUL
FINDS ITS PERFECTION IN GOD.
SOURCE: ASF 3: MODULE 1 AUGUSTINE ON ETHICS
ETHICAL THERE IS A RIGHT ORDER
IMPLICATIONS
SOUL FIRST, BODY SECOND
CONTEMPLATION FIRST,
OTHER EXCERCISES OF
REASON LATER.
THIS IS HOW TO LIVE
CLOSER TO GOD
HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO DO NOT
FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF THE
PSALM 1:
WICKED
OR TAKE THE PATH THAT SINNERS TREAD,
OR SIT IN THE SEAT OF SCOFFERS;
THE TWO BUT THEIR DELIGHT IS IN THE
WAYS LAW OF THE LORD
AND ON HIS LAW THEY MEDITATE DAY AND
NIGHT
THEY ARE LIKE TREES PLANTED
NEAR STREAMS OF WATER
WHICH YIELD THEIR FRUIT IN SEASON,
AND THEIR LEAVES DO NOT WITHER.
IN ALL THEY DO, THEY PROSPER.
PSALM 1: THE WICKED ARE NOT SO
THE TWO BUT ARE LIKE CHAFF THAT THE WIND
DRIVES AWAY
WAYS THEREFORE THE WICKED WILL
NOT STAND IN JUDGEMENT
NOR SINNERS IN THE CONGREGATION OF
THE RIGHTEOUS
FOR THE LORD WATCHES OVER
THE WAY OF THE RIGHTEOUS
BUT THE WAY OF THE WICKED WILL PERISH
LECTIO DIVINA
STEP 1: LECTIO (READING):
READ PSALM 1 SLOWLY AND
INTENTIONALLY, TAKING NOTE OF THE
IMAGERY, METAPHORS, AND THEMES.
IDENTIFY THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE
RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED,
HIGHLIGHTING KEY VERSES (E.G., PSALM 1:1-
3, 6).
STEP 2: MEDITATION (MEDITATION):
REFLECT ON THE PSALM’S MESSAGE, ASKING
YOURSELF:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “BLESSED” (VERSE 1)?
HOW DO THE RIGHTEOUS AND WICKED DIFFER IN
THEIR WAYS (VERSES 1-3, 6)?
WHAT ROLE DOES GOD PLAY IN THE PSALM
(VERSES 2-3, 6)?
WRITE DOWN YOUR INSIGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS
IN A JOURNAL OR REFLECTION SPACE.
STEP 3: ORATIO (PRAYER):
TURN YOUR REFLECTIONS INTO A PRAYER.
SPEAK TO GOD ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE
READ AND MEDITATED ON.
ASK FOR GUIDANCE, WISDOM, AND THE
ABILITY TO LIVE OUT THE TEACHINGS OF
PSALM 1 IN YOUR DAILY LIFE.
WRITE DOWN YOUR PRAYER (100-150
WORDS).
STEP 4: CONTEMPLATIO (CONTEMPLATION):
SIT IN SILENCE, ALLOWING THE PSALM’S
THEMES AND YOUR REFLECTIONS TO SETTLE
IN YOUR HEART.
LISTEN FOR GOD’S PRESENCE AND GUIDANCE,
SEEKING TO BE TRANSFORMED BY THE SPIRIT
(AS POPE FRANCIS ENCOURAGES IN
EVANGELII GAUDIUM).
RECORD ANY INSIGHTS, EMOTIONS, OR SENSE
OF PEACE THAT ARISE DURING THIS
CONTEMPLATIVE TIME.
ASSESSMENT CLEAR AND THOUGHTFUL
REFLECTION
CRITERIA EFFECTIVE APPLICATION OF THE
PSALM’S TEACHINGS TO CHRISTIAN-
AUGUSTINIAN MORALITY AND WHAT
MAKES MAN HAPPY
PRAYERFUL ENGAGEMENT WITH
GOD, USING PSALM 1 AS A GUIDE
CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE THAT
INDICATES A WILLINGNESS TO
LISTEN TO GOD’S PRESENCE AND
GUIDANCE...
