On Desire

 

shutterstock_298189988Let’s talk for a moment about life, the universe and everything. I don’t know any question about life, the universe, and everything to which the answer is definitely Forty-Two (see Douglas Adams), but I can tell you what some of the best questions are: Why aren’t we as happy as we want to be? How can we become happy?

So what about the answers? Well, these questions motivated millenia of philosophy, and a good bit of religion, too. A lot of interesting answers have been given, at least as far back as Buddha and as recently as C. S. Lewis. A lot of the big philosophers (Buddhists, Stoics, Epicureans, Platonists, Christians medievals, Descartes, Bacon, Lewis) have agreed on the problem: Our desires don’t fit the world. We desire more than this world has to offer. We desire what we can’t have — or what we can have but can’t keep — and we end up losing what we love, or fearing its loss.

There are two general strategies available to fix that problem: 1) We change what we want, so that we want what we can have; or 2) We change the world, so that we can have what we want.

It’s pretty obvious that both approaches are correct in their own spheres. (And there may be a third option to accompany the first two. See this comment and this comment, below.) The first strategy has been used successfully by everyone who has stopped being a baby who wants his food, wants it NOW, and is miserable because he doesn’t get exactly what he wants.

Medical science is a useful component of the second strategy, and I thank both God and Descartes (who advocated medical science as a component of the second strategy) that we now have the ability to prevent polio.

But what are the proper spheres of these two strategies? Which should be more emphasized? How should we modify the world or modify our desires properly? These are all issues that make big differences between all these thinkers and traditions. Give a thorough answer to all this, and you have a nice little philosophy of desire, or theology of desire, going.

Boethius

Philosophy tells Boethius how to be happy.

Generalizing somewhat, the earlier philosophers take the first (i.e., change our desires to better match the world), and the early modern Western philosophers take the second approach (i.e., change the world to better match our desires).

There are actually two ways of carrying out the first strategy: either we can cut desire down to the size of whatever is attainable in this world, or we can redirect our desires to something beyond this world. Ancient Buddhists, Stoics, and Epicureans have employed the former of these. The latter is the approach of Sufi mystics, the Bhagavad Gita, the Platonists, the Christian medievals, and C. S. Lewis.

Now it’s time to recommend some books! On the subject of the Platonist, Stoic, and Epicurean philosophers of desire I recommend Martha Nussbaum’s The Therapy of Desire and Pierre Hadot’s What Is Ancient Philosophy?

And on St. Augustine’s philosophy/theology of desire compared and contrasted with Platonism, I recommend — if I may — my own book on Augustine’s Cassiciacum Dialogues. In it, I explain how Augustine mingles the Platonist with the Christian approaches. In one sentence: I explain how Augustine’s theology of desire is a Christian one which takes some insights from the Platonic philosophers. (A bit more detail on where this thesis fits in the context of Augustine scholarship will come up in the next post, and a post after that will summarize the major points of the Cassiciacum dialogues.)

And on the consequences of the modern scientific approach (if you let the worst kind of modern philosophers tell you how to think about right and wrong), I recommend The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis.

And to learn how science fiction film illustrates Lewis, I recommend the upcoming Science Fiction and the Abolition of Man: Finding C. S. Lewis in Sci-Fi Film and Television. The book was my idea, and I’m editing it. More on that another time.

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  1. Larry3435 Inactive
    Larry3435
    @Larry3435

    Augustine:(I think M recites that Tynneson poem in the last Bond movie.)

    I had forgotten about that, but you are correct.  I looked it up.  The Tennyson quote read by M was:

    Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and though
    We are not now that strength which in old days
    Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
    One equal temper of heroic hearts,
    Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
    To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

    That poem is as quotable as Casablanca!

    • #121
  2. J Climacus Member
    J Climacus
    @JClimacus

    Ed G.:Yes, it’s in the same vein as “the journey is the destination”. Wanting, striving, becoming, evolving, etc are satisfying in a way that arrived, having, and being are not. I’ve been feeling something similar as I’ve come to realize that I’m already married, already fathered children and I am not building anymore as much as I’m maintaining and fortifying. It’s a subtle shift, but one that has caused more than just a little anguish.

    It is interesting that you write this. I am in a similar life situation to you, but I am happier now than I have ever been. The anxiety that I must “do something” in life (which I think is a positive good when you are young) is gone, and I rest satisfied in what I have done: 28 years of marriage, 3 grown children who have turned out pretty well and whom I enjoy. I enjoy spending time with my wife now more than ever, as we are again like a young married couple without major responsibilities, but with a shared life of struggle, sacrifice and joy behind us that unites us.

    Part of this contentment is the knowledge that nothing here on Earth will ultimately satisfy me – only God will do that (“our hearts are restless until they rest in thee”.) So I no longer expect more from this life than it will give… (cont’d)

    • #122
  3. J Climacus Member
    J Climacus
    @JClimacus

    … I think the fact that we cannot rest satisfied with anything in this life is an indication that the true target of our desire is more than we think it is. We imagine how satisfying achieving something will be – career success, family, romance, etc – but what we are really doing is transferring the satisfaction that comes with God onto something lower, and that lower thing will never live up to expectations.

    This is no more true than in romance. I’ve recounted earlier how I fell in love and how she meant everything to me. After having been married for a while, however, I realized my expectations for satisfaction in marriage were not just unrealistic but harmful. I was expecting marriage, and my wife, to satisfy me in a way no human being could, to put an end to the restless longing for something more. She satisfied much of my heart, but not all of it, and in with  dealing with this I eventually discovered that God was really what I was looking for.

    So the fact that we are never satisfied when we have striven and achieved might not mean that we prefer striving to achieving, but that we have yet to understand the true goal we are after.

    • #123
  4. Augustine Member
    Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Very edifying, J Climacus!

    • #124
  5. J Climacus Member
    J Climacus
    @JClimacus

    Augustine:Very edifying, J Climacus!

    Well I expected to hear that “Hearts are restless… ” quote from you! :)

    • #125
  6. St. Salieri Member
    St. Salieri
    @

    But isn’t the problem with Tennyson’s speaker in that poem that he is in fact abandoning all his current responsibilities, pace J Climacus, just to get the band back together one more time.  I understand the pull and attraction of that view of life, we had better break from wearing out than rusting, but Ulysses has responsibilities that he is evading, and unlike in the Odyssey where it is the immortal gods who prevent his return to Ithaca and the setting of all to order, now it is himself, as if his life would have no meaning without pushing off again.  As much as I like it, and “Do Not Go Gently Into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas there is something anti-Christian in their attitudes to old age, responsibility and death.  No?

    • #126
  7. Augustine Member
    Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    St. Salieri:But isn’t the problem with Tennyson’s speaker in that poem that he is in fact abandoning all his current responsibilities, pace J Climacus, just to get the band back together one more time. I understand the pull and attraction of that view of life, we had better break from wearing out than rusting, but Ulysses has responsibilities that he is evading, and unlike in the Odyssey where it is the immortal gods who prevent his return to Ithaca and the setting of all to order, now it is himself, as if his life would have no meaning without pushing off again. As much as I like it, and “Do Not Go Gently Into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas there is something anti-Christian in their attitudes to old age, responsibility and death. No?

    Excellent!

    Well said.  You know, I don’t think I ever noticed or heard that before.  A good criticism of Ulysses the character, maybe of the poem.  But I’ll accept the desire it expresses as ok, as long as it doesn’t conflict with any responsibilities.  (There are bad challenges, and then there are innocent but unhelpful challenges, and then there are unnecessary but useful challenges, and the there are good challenges.)

    • #127
  8. Augustine Member
    Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    J Climacus:

    Augustine:Very edifying, J Climacus!

    Well I expected to hear that “Hearts are restless… ” quote from you!

    Well, I should probably have said it.  Sometimes I’m not very smart.

    • #128
  9. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Augustine:

    J Climacus:

    Augustine:Very edifying, J Climacus!

    Well I expected to hear that “Hearts are restless… ” quote from you!

    Well, I should probably have said it. Sometimes I’m not very smart.

    “My heart is restless till it rest in Thee” is something I also fervently believe. Possibly, I feel the obligation to do something productive with that inevitable restlessness more keenly than I should.

    Then again, perhaps not.

    • #129
  10. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    J Climacus:

    Ed G.:[…..]

    It is interesting that you write this. I am in a similar life situation to you, but I am happier now than I have ever been. The anxiety that I must “do something” in life (which I think is a positive good when you are young) is gone, and I rest satisfied in what I have done[…..]

    Part of this contentment is the knowledge that nothing here on Earth will ultimately satisfy me – only God will do that (“our hearts are restless until they rest in thee”.) So I no longer expect more from this life than it will give… (cont’d)

    Don’t get me wrong: it’s not all anguish with me – I do have many blessings which I try to avoid counting. Also, I can see what you mean about renewing your life with your wife, and I think we’re taking some steps onto that road too; as we still have young children we can’t run to that road outright yet. And yes, I also believe that there is no real satisfaction while away from God – it’s a struggle anyway.

    • #130
  11. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Hey, The Conversion and Therapy of Desire is out.  Publisher’s site here.

    Cheap on Kindle here!

    • #131
  12. J Climacus Member
    J Climacus
    @JClimacus

    Saint Augustine:Hey, The Conversion and Therapy of Desire is out. Publisher’s site here.

    Cheap on Kindle here!

    Just bought the kindle version.

    • #132
  13. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    J Climacus:

    Saint Augustine:Hey, The Conversion and Therapy of Desire is out. Publisher’s site here.

    Cheap on Kindle here!

    Just bought the kindle version.

    I am honored. (If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you would do a rating or review on Amazon at some point–if and when you’ve read enough of it.)

    • #133
  14. J Climacus Member
    J Climacus
    @JClimacus

    Saint Augustine:

    J Climacus:

    Saint Augustine:Hey, The Conversion and Therapy of Desire is out. Publisher’s site here.

    Cheap on Kindle here!

    Just bought the kindle version.

    I am honored. (If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you would do a rating or review on Amazon at some point–if and when you’ve read enough of it.)

    Be happy to.

    • #134
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