Liberation in Submission - Happiness in a Deterministic Universe

I had a rather unconventional view of happiness before studying this unit. I started attending transformative-learning personal development courses at the age of 17. These courses taught me that all events in life are, in and of themselves, devoid of meaning. There is nothing inherently sad about a breakup, for example. I learnt that we are only sad when we interpret an event in reality as being bad. I had firsthand experience of living life while consciously choosing how to interpret events. This was a powerful way to live, as it liberated me from being a victim of my circumstances. Over time, it became obvious to me that life was inherently meaningless. If someone had asked me what the key to happiness was, I would have said it was the ability to relate to all events as opportunities to create empowering meaning.

In light of my existing views, I greatly enjoyed learning about the Stoics. We had similar ideas on the link between happiness and viewing reality correctly. I learnt that in order to appreciate Stoic ethics you need to understand their metaphysics. The Stoics believed that the universe and its cycles of life are governed by an all-encompassing, sublime nature. Assuming that we are constituted by this divine ‘Whole,’ they asserted that events in our lives are playing out as required by its laws. This was the Stoic version of determinism. While I don’t happen to believe in the divinity of nature, I found this notion almost interchangeable with my conception of a deterministic universe ruled by the laws of physics. I found the implications for happiness significant in both cases.

When the Stoics considered the best way to achieve eudaimonia, they concluded it would be the life that best accorded with this all-powerful nature. Their ideal way of fulfilling this goal was utilising our powers of reason to achieve insights on the nature of all things, including ourselves. Firstly, they said, we should utilise our reason in striving for excellence in living justly, and therefore virtuously, for virtue’s own sake. For the Stoics, virtue was something we could exercise at will that had its own intrinsic value. Secondly, they said we should examine and relate to things in the correct way. The Stoics resolved that anything which troubles us, when inspected carefully and broken into parts, will reveal its fundamental inability to be troubling. Recognising that we often attribute our frustration to other people, stamping incorrect interpretations of their behaviour into our minds, they note how quickly negative emotion can diminish once we recognise the futility of this. This was a clear example the Stoics gave of suffering due to a faulty perception of reality. They concluded that when we willingly submit to natural demands, it becomes unnecessary to stray from nature by experiencing excessive passions or suffering. One would then be free to live in a state of harmonious equilibrium, with a soul that is whole and complete.

Learning about the Stoics has significantly expanded and solidified my view of happiness. As a result of comparing and analysing our beliefs, I have developed a new notion of the best way to attain happiness. I would now say that if you are suffering, it is because you are rejecting one or more of three fundamental facts about reality. Firstly, the fact that we live in a deterministic universe. Once you recognise this, you realise that there is no such concept as things should have been different. Secondly, the fact that events are inherently meaningless. Once you acknowledge this, you realise that the power to judge any and all events really does lie with you. Lastly, the fact that your life will never be ideal. There will always be something to fix and make better. You will always wish that things were different somehow. You will always struggle against this. This is what reality is. Once you accept this, you can finally experience real joy and peace in the only place they can be experienced - right now, in the present moment, despite everything that is not ideal about the present moment. That is life. Liberation is to be found within submission.

References

Marcus Aurelius, extract from Meditations, in M.Staniforth (ed), (Penguin Books)

Reference reprinted in PHL132 2017 Unit reader (2017)