The Road Ought Travelled

Everything in nature has a distinctive end to achieve, a distinctive function to fulfill. In fact, according to Aristotle, every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good. And this good just refers to the attainment of the end. With this we can see another important thread in morality – that is, the good thing is that which serves its purpose or attains its distinguishing end. Well, the same applies to man: the good man is one who fulfills his function as a man. But really, what is it that clearly defines the duty of man? Given the diversity of roles in this life, could it really be possible to determine a single, unifying function of all man?

Yes, we may all have different roles in life – I, for instance, am a daughter, a sister, a student, and a friend all at the same time. And for sure, others have different and varying roles too. But as said, we must make a distinction between a man’s craft or profession and his activity as a man. One can be a good doctor, a good student or a good son, but it does not mean he is already a good man. So, to discover the true function of man, Aristotle said we have to look into the human’s nature. It turns out that as human beings, we do have this one distinctive function to fulfill: to exercise reason, that is, to live out each of our lives in accordance with the rational principle. And by doing so, we are actually heading towards the realization and fulfillment of our function that will enable us to a good and happy life. After all, this kind of happiness is what we should all aim for – happiness that results from a rational life focused and based on the pursuit of excellence.

Since every human action is typically done for the sake of attaining this ultimate goal (eudaimonia or happiness), then we – as subjects – ought to do it the excellent way. Why? Because pursuing a rational life means pursuing excellence as well! This, then, calls us to strive for both intellectual and moral excellence – not just employing correct thinking and reasoning, but also desiring and acting according to this excellent reasoning.

As human beings, this is what we’re supposed to do; this is what we’re supposed to strive for. But sad to say, majority of us fail to recognize this; majority of us fail to live out the life rooted on the excellence of reason. We tend to turn a blind eye to the ultimate goal – that true happiness stemming from an excellent life, a rational life. Well, we may recognize it, but we tend to pay attention to the “happiness” part alone, forgetting that it needs to stem from a life lived out rationally and excellently. Worse is that we only focus our efforts on the things that are fleeting and temporary: wealth, power, influence, success, or perhaps, popularity. These are just instrumental ends, but we oftentimes put so much emphasis on them, treating and regarding them as the ultimate and final end. We so much want to become great doctors, architects, lawyers or businessmen that we anchor almost all our decisions and actions to just that. Adding up to the trouble is our distorted view on success: we almost always equate it with power, and yes, wealth! And this drive to be successful, as they put it, is just too strong for most that we tend to do anything – and everything – just to attain them.

The quest to achieve this individualistic ‘happiness’ can also be dangerous to other human beings, especially to those who are deprived or who are not as much capable. I, myself, have witnessed this pressing reality during my immersion experience at New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa. There I met Tatay Kid, an inmate for almost 20 years now. He was a noteworthy member of the Philippine military and was even sent several times to other countries such as Cambodia for some peacekeeping efforts. In the early 1980s, he was even made the Chief Investigating Officer in the Isabela province. But what led him to the prison cells was something that resulted from another man’s quest, or perhaps thirst, for power and wealth. It was the year 1991 when Tatay Kid caught the illegal logging activities of his superior (the governor) and fearlessly decided to bring it to a stop. He undauntedly stood for the truth because – as he puts it – it is what was asked of him, it was what he had sworn to do. But because there was someone overwhelmed with the desire and drive for affluence and power, Tatay Kid – despite siding with what’s right – still lost the fight. He had no choice but to spend a whole lifetime in prison for something he thought was just moral, for something he thought was just right, to do. Yes, this may have something to do with the weak justice system here in the Philippines, but for me, it is equally important to consider what actually lies beneath – the fact that there was one person who pursued, by all means, the things he thought are the ultimate source of happiness is also a big, big factor that allowed this kind of suffering, this kind of injustice, to happen.

As you can see, if our actions and decisions are just boxed in our limited view and judgment of self (our function, and by extension, our pursuit of that end), then we have a greater tendency to shrug off others’ quest to attain theirs too. Because of this, we deliver actions that meet goods which have their own ends, yes, but when are completed, are only means by which still other ends are to be achieved. And when we fail to look beyond these instrumental ends, we actually limit and constrain ourselves (and the society) from enjoying a greater good. Hence, we are still not any closer to attaining true happiness, to achieving what Aristotle called eudaimonia. In fact, everywhere men aim at pleasure, wealth, and honor. And I think it’s safe to say that it’s not at all bad to aspire for them. Just that none of them, though they have value, can occupy the place of the chief good for which man should aim. True enough, the pursuit of these things can make us happy, but the happiness we can get from them is only just to a certain extent; it will always be lacking. Indeed, we choose them only because we think that by means of them we shall be happy. This last phrase is worth noting, so spare me of the repetition -- only because we think that by means of them we shall be happy.

What makes that last phrase important to me lies in the very same experience I encountered during my immersion at NBP. Well, living with an inmate’s family for a whole weekend allowed me to see poverty right on the face. Nanay Jenny and his son, Cristian, live in a house that’s probably smaller than the usual comfort rooms most of us have at home. As you step inside their small abode, you’ll find the dining area, living room, and bedroom all at that one same place. Yes, they eat three times a day; but that’s just one canned good a meal. They don’t even have the resources to go to great schools, what more to experience luxury? These people neither have the money, the power nor the influence, but guess what, they are still happy. It may be true that happiness is all about human flourishing. But that flourishing does not, apparently, concern the financial and the socio-economic aspect alone. People can still be happy although they lack the access to the usual things most of us are aspiring for. This is what the above repeated phrase is trying to prove us – that we only pursue the instrumental ends mentioned because we think they can lead us to happiness. It does not say that only through them we can attain happiness. There are many cases out there where some already had the fame, the power, the wealth. But at the end of the day, they still find themselves unhappy, and yes, discontented.

That is why I find it so necessary to know for ourselves what we, humans, are supposed to ultimately strive for in life – that is genuine happiness, true eudaimonia, which emanates from a life lived from exercising the excellence of reason. Why? Well, first, knowing this can introduce unity within a single person’s life as it gives the point, the purpose, not just to one or two individual actions, but to a whole range of behavior. Second, it provides coherence and structure across the many different things we do as it pushes all men to live coherent and intelligible lives rather than just random collections of actions. And third, knowing the ultimate goal (and how we are to get there) can keep us from being too rigid on ourselves, reminding us that the world wouldn’t end if we do not become that rich, that popular, or that influential. Through this we are able to see the bigger picture – that as men, we have something “more beyond” to aim at. Quoting our discussion in class, “when we discover what men aim at, not as carpenters, doctors, or generals, but as men, we will then arrive at an action for its own sake…and this must be the good of man.”

Of course, with knowing comes our responsibility to do everything we could to align our actions (as well as the decisions that come with these actions) with this correct and excellent way of reasoning. Yes, it is not enough to just know and ponder the way to the ultimate goal; we should commit ourselves to actually doing it. Yes, this pursuit to an ethical life must continuously be a challenge to all of us. This pursuit to an excellent, rational life is indeed how the soul works to reach that genuine happiness -- happiness that arises from one’s pursuit of the admirable and avoidance of the shameful.

Seeing the conditions of people like Nanay Jenny and Tatay Kid is actually both a pain and a relief at the same time. I felt pain because I know they don’t deserve to suffer just like that; relief, because finally I was given a chance to get a brand new pair of eyes – eyes that I can use to view things around me differently. With these new pair of eyes on, I am making a decision: I will not add to the indifference and injustice in our society today anymore. I will follow the path of happiness for sure, but I will traverse it the way it should and ought to be – excellently and, of course, rationally. By removing the self from the center, by exercising correct reasoning at all times, then I would be able to see the bigger picture; I would be able to consider my kapwa’s quest for happiness too. After all, there could be no more fulfilling, more self-actualizing, than to see yourself reach your own star while enabling others to reach theirs too.