ASF 3 Lesson 2: The Philosopher's Quest for Happiness PDF

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...

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 https://web.facebook.com/USANSC/ 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), http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/201 WHAT IS 3/10/the-2013-saint-o-lantern-link- up.html ASF 3: LESSON 2 THE PHILOSOPHER’S QUEST FOR ETHICS FOR AUGUSTINE? Simply put, ethics for Augustine is to inquire HAPPINESS: EUDAEMONIA 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 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 the hope which HAPPINESS: EUDAEMONIA 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). 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). 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 HAPPINESS: EUDAEMONIA transforms our loves to be more 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 HAPPINESS: EUDAEMONIA about hope in the work of 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://YOUTU.BE/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: MEDITATIO (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.