The Dialog

My co-host Nick Surface was depressed for six years. All he wanted was to be happy. What got him out was the thing he stopped doing: obsessing over his own happiness. So is happiness even a worthwhile goal?

In Episode 1, I said I think it is. Nick wanted to know if that's actually true. My answer: everyone wants to be happy. The problem is the definition. Not happiness as a feeling. Happiness the way Aristotle, the Stoics and the Bible define it.

In this episode, Nick and I talk through Aristotle's εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia), what the Stoics said you can control, why Christians say "joy" instead of "happy," and why I hear an old Greek idea in Romans 8:28.

Is happiness a worthwhile goal?
Most of us never ask. The fact that we never consider it shows how important it is to each one of us. If it matters that much, we need a clear definition.

What did Aristotle mean by happiness?
His word was εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia), human flourishing: a person who, by reason, lives in accordance with virtue. The Greeks called excellence ἀρετή (aretē), and Aristotle called a life spent chasing amusement childish.

What is the difference between joy and happiness?
Most of us mean feeling happy: the paycheck came, your team won, nothing went wrong. My working definition of joy is the knowledge that everything's working out for my good (Romans 8:28).

What can you actually control?
The Stoics landed on three things: your thoughts, your attitudes and your actions. My honest answer to why more things don't work out: "It's because I don't control what I can control very well."

How do you build a happier life?
Trust that what you can't control is working out for your good. Then bring discipline and effort to what you can. Think on what is always right, good and true (Philippians 4:8). Nick summed it up with something a friend of ours says all the time: God is sovereign, man is responsible.

Scriptures
Romans 8:28-29 · John 1:1, 14 · John 14:6 · Philippians 4:8 · 1 Timothy 6:10 · Ecclesiastes

Thinkers and ideas
Aristotle: εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia), ἀρετή (aretē), and why amusement can't be the point of life (Nicomachean Ethics)
The Stoics: you control your thoughts, attitudes and actions, and nothing else
Heraclitus: the λόγος (logos), the reason that orders the universe
Buddha: dissatisfaction as wanting what you can't control

Chapters
0:00 Cold open and show intro
0:51 Catching us mid-conversation
2:42 Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
4:16 Six years of depression and chasing happiness
5:27 Is happiness actually a worthwhile goal?
7:12 Aristotle on limited goods: why money can't make you happy
10:57 Drinking to feel happy
12:31 Feeling happy isn't the goal (Ecclesiastes)
14:07 Aristotle: life can't be about amusement
16:44 What about suffering in the Bible?
17:46 Arete: what excellence looks like in a person
19:34 Eudaimonia: Aristotle's definition of happiness
22:35 What is biblical joy?
23:45 Fantasy football and what the Stoics said we control
26:03 Romans 8:28, Stoicism and the logos (John 1)
28:42 Why don't more things work out for our good?
30:32 How do you create happiness day to day?
32:31 Be generous when life is hard
34:04 Two keys to happiness: God is sovereign, man is responsible

Previous: 1.1 / Why you should want to be proved wrong
Next: 1.3 / Is life a problem to solve?

New episodes most weeks.
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Go to my website / https://jkc.is

What is The Dialog?

Ancient philosophers used the dialog to find answers to life’s greatest questions. The Dialog is a search for truth in modern life through the lens of ancient philosophy, history, and theology. This podcast will challenge your assumptions, change your thinking and show you how to master modern living.