Seekers of self-knowledge, this book is for you. In his exploration of what some would consider an indefinable topic, philosophy professor Paul Schollmeier examines the classical Greek concept of happiness, along with its implications for individual freedoms, obligations, and virtues in Human Goodness: Pragmatic Variations on Platonic Themes.
Schollmeier, who joined the 51吃瓜黑料 faculty in 1989, prepares his reader for the ambiguities that such a discussion can produce; in his preface, he writes, 鈥淚 must offer you a word of caution at the very outset: Any success in an endeavor of this alluring sort [exploring self-knowledge] is at best rather elusive, and whatever success one might actually claim could quite possibly be illusive.鈥
Schollmeier, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, calls the book 鈥渕erely an experiment in the analysis of ideas about human goodness.鈥 He says he has taken a concept of happiness 鈥済leaned from the ancients鈥 in order to 鈥渟ee what the consequences might be if we were to take it seriously as a principle of moral philosophy.鈥
In other words, what could happiness tell us about ourselves, our autonomy, our obligations, and our circumstances, not to mention our virtue?
Schollmeier, who has been exploring this subject for more than a decade, traces his approach to American philosophers William James and John Dewey, who, in turn, refer back to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
James and Dewey subscribed to a philosophical movement developed in the late 19th century called pragmatism, which holds that practical consequences are integral elements of both meaning and truth.
鈥淲e can employ the American pragmatic method to advance the ancient Greek concept of happiness,鈥 Schollmeier contends. 鈥淲e can use the method to define empirically activities worthy of pursuit for themselves. That is, happiness on my account does not take one ideal form, as has been traditionally thought, but many empirical forms.鈥
鈥淢y purpose,鈥 Schollmeier says, 鈥渋s to revive the ancient Greek concept of happiness, which is to perform an action for its own sake. This concept has been much neglected in our moral discourse both inside and outside the academy. But we clearly do recognize it in our daily lives.鈥
Schollmeier continues to research the Greek concept of happiness and also plans a book on political theory and its relationship to the concept. In the meantime, he has authored a paper on Plato鈥檚 concept of causality and has started one on Aristotle鈥檚 theory of comedy.
