truthessay

One of the universal desires of all human persons is happiness. We all want
to be happy. Even bitter and angry people think that by making others
miserable, they will in some measure attain happiness, but our society seems
to have lost an understanding of what true happiness is. Sheryl Crow
accurately sums up this view in her song "If It Makes You Happy:"

"If it makes you happy
It can't be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad"

Often our view of happiness is bound up with doing "whatever we want to
do," but as Crow's lyrics point out, most people find out that doing whatever
we want to do in the end really does not make us happy, and we are left
searching for a truer and deeper happiness that the world often promises,
but can never deliver.

In order for us to understand what will make us truly happy, we must first of
all understand something of the human person, how we are made, and it is
only then that we will be able to understand what will lead to the fulfillment
of our being. Each human person is composed of a body and soul union. The
spiritual part of us is able to know and to love, while the material part of us
is able to sense (feel). Therefore any attempt at happiness that only
focuses on the feeling or pleasure is only focusing on the material part of the
human person. As such the spiritual part of the person is neglected, and the
person soon becomes bored with the pleasure, and continues to seek more
and more pleasurable experiences that never lead to true fulfillment, because
they are over all to quickly. Human fulfillment can only take place when all
aspects of the human person are accounted for: body and soul.

As was stated earlier, the soul is composed of what is called the intellect
(the part of us that knows) and the will (the part of us that chooses (I will
not use the word "love" here because the reader may mistake it at this point
for an emotional experience)). The intellect is therefore perfected when it
knows the truth, and the will is perfected when it chooses the good. This
perfection leads to the fulfillment of the human person (in other words
happiness). Therefore, we must try to understand what is "truth" and what
is "good" in order for us to understand what will make us happy.

Aristotle defines truth as "the conformity of the mine with the thing," (a
more literal translation of adequatio intellectum et re is the "conformity of
the mind and the thing," but for a human person the above translation is in
keeping with the spirit of Aristotle's work). This is the way that we are
made, but often times, when we hear the word 'conformity' we think it is
something bad, because it seems as though the 'conformity' is going to limit
our human freedom. Paradoxically, the reverse is actually true, unadulterated
license leads to slavery, and our greatest freedom is found in conformity.

How is this possible? Well, true human freedom is not simply a matter of
being able to choose whatever we want to choose. True freedom lies in
being able to clearly see all of the different options available and then being
able to choose which one is really good. However, if my intellect (mind) is
not able to conform itself to reality, we will not be able to see that which is
really good for us. Our freedom then becomes a random selection of different
things that we think might be good for us because it may afford us a few
moment of pleasure, peace, or escape, but is it what is really good for us.
How do we know? The intellect must conform itself to the reality around it
(truth). Without an intellect that is able to see things clearly, we will be
unable to discern that which is good.

Unfortunately for us our intellects are not always able to easily conform
themselves to reality. We are all affected by peer pressure, by our emotions,
by what feels good, etc. These other factors make the true good much less
apparent to us. If something makes us feel good, we may take it or do it
without any consideration of whether it is actually good for us or not
(whether it conforms to the truth of our existence). The pain and pleasure
principles become the rules of how we live our lives. If something causes
pain, it should be avoided, and if it causes pleasure, it should be indulged in
to the maximum extent possible. These principles may be followed for a time,
and may give some short-term satisfaction. However, the intensity of the
pleasure soon becomes diminished, and the frequency of the pleasurable
activity must be increased or a new activity must be found that is more
intense. This is how nearly all addictions work. For example a drug may be
tried, and the first high is always the most intense. Later, the frequency of
usage must be increased, when this fails, other types of drugs are tried,
always ending in the same outcome, emptiness. The drug user always lives
under the illusion that, "I can quit whenever I want," but the truth of the
matter is that an enslavement has taken place. The intellect is no longer
able to discern the truth (drug users often suffer from paranoia), and the
person has become the slave of their addiction, completely unable to break
out of the destructive cycle.

Drug addictions are just one example, but all "sin" (for lack of a better word)
has the same effect. Sin gives the illusion and promises freedom, but it only
leads to enslavement and misery. Sin prevents the person from being able to
see clearly reality i.e. the truth. Often the person who is enslaved does not
even realize that he is shackled. To others, the enslavement is perfectly
obvious, but to the one who is experiencing it, it is often seen as "freedom"
or "happiness".

In other words, sin is a refusal of the human person to conform himself to
the reality of his existence. An intense "self-focus" is usually the result of
the enslavement of sin. The self begins to exert itself as the "most
important". As a consequence one begins to treat others as objects i.e. one
begins to use others. The "other" is only considered "good" if that person is
useful to the self. The other is useful if they are in some way able to cause
pleasure for the self. Once that person is no longer able to fulfill that
function, he or she is then discarded. An example of this can be seen in
people who have multiple sexual partners. When one partner begins to fail to
satisfy the other's emotional "needs", that person is discarded in favor of
another who is more useful in their ability to satisfy. The "self-focus" of this
can be seen in the statement, "I must have my needs met." This statement
is devoid of a concern for the other, but is focused on the needs of the self.
The lack of fulfillment and happiness in this situation is seen in the constant
need to change partners. The lack of stability (the freedom of partners)
shows that the other was unable to deliver the promised happiness and
fulfillment.

Therefore, if happiness cannot be found in activities (such as drug use or
sexual activity) or in the self, where is it to be found? Real happiness (not
pleasure or emotional consolation) can only be found when we possess the
good, and we can only discern what is good if we are able to know truth. We
are only able to know the truth if one is willing to conform oneself to reality,
because that is what truth consists in. Thus the conformity of oneself to
reality is not a restriction, but it leads to freedom, because we are able to
see the purpose of one's existence. Therefore, when we see God's
commandments not as a coercion meant to limit our "fun," but as a way of
living out the truth of our existence i.e. helping us to live the way that God
designed us to live, the commandments are no longer thought of as an
external burden, imposed by a cruel master, but they are the path (or
guidelines) that give us the ability to be able to choose what is truly good
for ourselves and our neighbor. This enables one not only to find fulfillment,
but it enables us also to help others reach their fulfillment (happiness) as
well. To live in accord with the truth helps us to be concerned about self
and other, and also to realize that sometimes the self will have to be denied
for the sake of the other.

We may it a little ironic, but conformity to the truth enables us in freedom
to choose the good, and the choice of the good leads to happiness. An
example may help to illustrate the point. Two children are both given the
opportunity to learn the piano. The first child's parents insist that she learn
the note, scales, and all of the other "rules" of music. The child's parents
also insist that the child practice these rules, because without practice the
rules will never become incorporated into the way that the child plays piano.
The second child's parents insist that their child has to be free, and so they
don't offer the child any lessons, but they give the child the "freedom" to
press any of the keys that she likes. After many hours of hard work, the first
child is able to read music and play it according to the "rules" of music, and
an order can be made out of what was before random notes. Soon the child
is able to give her first recital. The second child still sits in front of the
piano, although not very often, and still has the freedom to press whatever
keys she wants. After many years of study and practice of music, the first
student is able to play very intricate and difficult pieces of music. She has
also developed the ability (or freedom) to be able to improvise. The second
student has quit trying to play altogether. Now both students have the
ability to choose whatever keys they want to press. The first student is able
make beautiful music, while the second student is only able to make noise.
Which student is truly free?

The first student, by willingly conforming herself to a rule (an objective
truth) and combined with an effort to practice, was eventually able to make
beautiful music. This led to the freedom to be able to improvise, and to the
fulfillment of being able to make beautiful music. The second student,
although possessing the exact same freedom was never able to make
anything other than noise on the piano because she only conformed herself
to her internal rule (subjective truth). From this example we can see the
need that we have to conform ourselves to an external truth. We also see
that it is necessary to perform repeated good actions in order to incorporate
this truth into the way that we live our lives.

Thus, conformity to truth leads to freedom. Without this freedom we cannot
choose the good, and without the good, we cannot find happiness. The
journey cannot be undertaken without a great deal of effort, but it is a
journey that must be undertaken, because in the end, what else is there?