Some False Step

This first chapter argues that the philosophy of pessimism is well grounded, quite independent of any particular religious orientation. At its core, the philosophy of pessimism simply offers (on the whole) dismal predictions about what nearly all of us can expect to experience in our private lives and interpersonal relationships, about the welfare of our fellow creatures, about the character of our social institutions and global politics, and about our prospects for progress on these matters in the future. The collective evidence for this view drawn from the plight of animals, the natural dispositions of human persons, our checkered history of social and political institutions, the world’s religions and wisdom traditions, and humanity’s achievements in art, literature, music, and philosophy is clear and compelling. Moreover, the chapter argues that this pessimism is overdetermined and even more austere for the Christian who takes the doctrines of the Fall and Original Sin seriously. Yet the good news for the Christian is that this philosophy of pessimism can be tempered by reasons for optimism—reasons which furnish a hope for salvation and also a hope that before every tear is wiped away, the groans of creation and the sufferings of its creatures will have properly inspired us to cooperate with God in the process of Atonement. Finally, special attention is given to the Felix Culpa theodicy as a further source of optimism for the Christian.

Ye Cannot Serve God and Mammon

This final chapter begins by articulating a particular conception of the virtue of obedience and detailing its four components—humility, restraint, response, and love—and by showing how they work together both to nurture an abiding and deeply seated pro-attitude towards uniting one’s will with God’s will and also to create and maintain a robust and stable set of dispositions aimed at succeeding in this aim. It then illustrates the virtue of obedience in action, discusses its relation to happiness, and remarks on the role of perseverance, the difficult mission of anyone who commits to acquiring and developing this virtue in life. A refinement to the objective-list theories of well-being (or flourishing) is then proposed, followed by a formulation and defense of a new objective-list theory that attempts to state the conditions of receptivity in a subject in addition to identifying the range of welfare goods in the world. The virtue of obedience, it is argued, is not only one among many welfare goods, but plays a unique role vis-à-vis the other goods on the list, insofar as it serves as the priming condition under which they can realize the full extent of their value in the subject in which they manifest. Finally, the most worrisome aspects of the views defended in this book are identified, sympathetically presented with force and fairness, and addressed.

The Masks of Sloth

One peculiarity of the theses defended in the foregoing chapters is that they diagnose a condition which predicts that the diagnosis will be resisted by those it accurately describes. Literature provides artistic illustrations as accompaniments to philosophical texts which can capture one’s attention in ways academic prose might not. In particular, literature can elicit many of the same emotional experiences that arise in everyday life and can mimic the chaotic and multi-dimensional reality of interpersonal interaction. Consequently, the reader can be deeply engaged by way of imaginative immersion into a richly nuanced narrative, subjective reactions to which provide brand new experiential data with which to theorize. This chapter offers a literary tour of the different masks of sloth in the hopes of rendering the reader receptive to the diagnosis of the preceding three chapters, which, thus illustrated, may seem less foreign than it might otherwise appear. As a result, sloth will be seen to be a misfortune with many faces. Under its onerous influence, one can race from boredom into mindless diversions, or convince oneself that the world is at bottom absurd, or languish in melancholy, or give oneself over to evil, or abdicate one’s agency and be ruled by chance, or play the aesthete and frantically pursue the diminishing pleasures of sensual novelty, or attempt to explain one’s misfortune by appeal to some invented offensive or indifferent feature of God’s, or despair over a perceived spiritual deformity in oneself rooted in guilt or shame.

Thus Mammon Spake

Even those who endorse the religious worldview underlying the optimism discussed in the first chapter frequently willfully resist the efforts required to cooperate with God and to respond to the demands that love places upon us with respect to God and neighbor. Like the demons in Paradise Lost, many of us are beguiled by the prospect of pursuing our own happiness and well-being (or flourishing) on our own power, of making a Heaven of the Hell that the philosophy of pessimism has taught us is our current abode. Thus many of us adopt the frame of mind in which we are willing to trust in our own powers, skill, artistry, intelligence, and all the magnificent resources of our own selves. No need of God. No loss in rebellion. This chapter defends certain maligned aspects of a popular philosophical methodology and then conducts a critical study of the current leading literature on well-being and happiness. Assuming we can come to have knowledge of these matters, the chapter critically examines and argues against hedonistic, desire-fulfillment, and perfectionistic theories of well-being, advocating instead for an objective-list theory, and critically examines and argues against hedonistic and life-satisfaction theories of happiness, advocating instead for the Psychic Affirmation view. Thus, the attempt to seek out happiness and well-being on our own power without the benefit of reconciliation with the divine need not be thwarted by skepticism about happiness and well-being.

Libido Sentiendi, Libido Sciendi, Libido Dominandi

This chapter offers a report from the front lines where the battle for self-achieved happiness and well-being (or flourishing) is decidedly not going well. After counter-reports of success from those in the field are examined, secular reasons are offered for thinking that these reports are very likely to be unreliable and so lack the power to trump the mountain of evidence for the view that there are precious few who flourish when drawing only on the resources of their own willpower, creativity, and ingenuity. But it’s not due to lack of trying; people want desperately to enjoy happiness and well-being. The real causes of failure, it is argued, are found in the noetic effects of sin—particularly in inordinate self-love and self-deception, but also (especially in those who have been further harmed and humiliated by relentless and systemic oppression) in insufficient self-love and the lack of safety, resources, and opportunities. The tale to be told is not merely a chronicle of failed bids at happiness and well-being ultimately grounded in our shared condition of sin; it is also a tale of the unhappiness that visits so many of those who fall into this pattern of failure. This portion of the story will be informed and structured by the seven capital vices (also known as the seven deadly sins), and it will culminate in a sustained examination and exploration of the sin of sloth.