Eudemonology

Eudemonology (also eudaimonology < Greek εὐδαίμων ['happy'] + λόγος ['treatise']) is a term coined by Schopenhauer —Parerga and Paralipómena, 1851— to designate the study or theory of a happy life for man to the extent of his possibilities.

It is necessary to emphasize, however, that the notion of a happy life, understood within the strict context of the Schopenhauerian system, is not exempt from a certain contradictory nature. Indeed:

[...] eudemonology [Eudämonologie] must begin by teaching that his name itself is a euphemism and that by 'live happy' [glücklich leben] must be understood only 'less unfortunate' [weniger unglücklich], mean living tolerablely [erträglich leben]. (Parerga and paralipómena"Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life," V.A., 1)

The foundation of this assertion is provided by Schopenhauer in his capital work when he maintains that "suffering [das Leiden] is essential to life" (The world as will and representation, I. iv, § 57), an idea that leads to its ultimate consequences when considering that "there is only one innate error: that of <believing> that we exist [dasind] to be happy" (Ibid., II. iv, 49). According to what has been exposed, then, the Schopenhauerian notion of eudemonology does not point to happiness in an absolute sense but, rather, refers to a kind of practical wisdom (Lebensweisheit) and, in this sense, it is assimilable to the doctrines developed by the French moralists.

For the rest, and already in a broader sense, it can be said that eudaemonological considerations are as old as philosophy itself. So much so that, for example, Plato puts into the mouth of Socrates the idea that "an unexamined life is not worth living" (Apology, 38a7). Aristotelian ethics, for its part, considers that the ultimate goal of man is to achieve happiness (εὐδαιμονία) through the exercise of a contemplative life (βίος θεωρητικός). The ethics of the Hellenistic period also reserve a prominent place for eudemonological speculations.