On Excellence and Telos

Several weeks ago, we started discussing the idea of virtue and morality as it pertains to excellence.  One of the purposes of this forum is to really get our minds around the idea of excellence and the pursuit of excellence.  Why?  Because that is one of the things that helps us unlock the answer to the question, "What does it mean to live the good life?"

One of the fascinating things about working in medicine, and emergency medicine in particular, is that we get a front row seat to everybody's story.  In a previous post, I wrote about why it is important to read fiction.  Though conjured in the head of the author, fiction can serve as a laboratory of life where we as the reader get to evaluate the choices made by the characters, observe the consequences, and then apply those life lessons to our own journey. 

Similarly, medicine can function in the same way.  We can observe the lives and choices of our patients and absorb the lessons, if we are willing.  Layer on top of that, practicing on the margins of life, observations about living the good life come into sharper relief.  In the emergency department we can observe those who have lived a long and deeply fulfilling life.  We observe those whose life has been terminated prematurely.  And, most tragically, we can observe those who have squandered and made a wreck of the opportunity that they have been given on this earth.

So, this gets us back to asking the question, seeing life played out before us, what does it mean for us to live the good life?  Stated differently, how ought one to live so as to die with no regrets?  Philosophers and theologians have debated and struggled with this idea since the dawn of time.  They have struggled with this idea, what is the highest good?  We would say, what is excellent?

Certainly, the answer to this question is multifaceted.  Like gazing into an excellently cut diamond, no single perspective gives the viewer a complete picture.  Rather, you need to turn it around, view it from different angles, see it in different light to be able to fully appreciate the intricacy of the cuts and the clarity of the stone.  In a similar manner, for us, understanding what is excellent requires a multifaceted approach.

As we seek the answer to the Apostle Paul's admonition, "If there is any excellence... think about these things" we can find some helpful insights from Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and the Westminster Catechism.

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle (384-322 BCE) begins as he grapples with the question, what is the universal or highest good?  Here he defines good as “that for the sake of which everything else is done.”  Though this may vary from thing to thing, he ultimately lands on the idea of eudaimonia or happiness.  We may think this trite or a nod toward some epicurean hedonism.  But for Aristotle, the concept of eudaemonia meant much more than the simple, dopamine infused, concept of visceral pleasure that we envision.  Rather, it is most closely approximated in the English lexicon in the words of our Declaration of Independence recognizing the endowed rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - or flourishing, wellbeing and a life well lived.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), in his work, built on the work of Aristotle's eudaimonism and layered on Christian theology.  While Aquinas agreed with the pursuit of eudaimonia he also understood that happiness will never be ultimately achieved in this life.  This is ultimately achieved after this life with supernatural union with God.  However, he believed that we could achieve an imperfect happiness in this life.  He understood this earthly eudaimonia in the context of another Greek word - Telos - meaning purpose or end goal.  Taken together, Aquinas believed that seeking the good and the good life is wrapped up in seeking completion and well-being through reason and the pursuit of the virtues.  In his magnum opus, Summa Theologica, he describes four cardinal virtues and three theological virtues that serve as the basis for all other earthly and spiritual living. 

Both Aristotle and Aquinas had a concept of excellent living that was rooted in understanding and pursuing a particular purpose.  Excellence is the aim and process of pursuing that for which we have been created.  So, what is that purpose? 

In the wake of the protestant reformation, there was an increased emphasis on teaching Christian doctrine and systematic theology.  In the mid 17th century, the Westminster Assembly - a group of English and Scottish theologians drafted a document consisting of a series of questions and answers, known as the Westminster Shorter Catechism, as a tool to provide theological education for children and families.  This catechism still serves as a reference point for reformed theology today. 

The first of the catechism's declarations picks up on this theme of eudaimonia and telos and directly answers the question, what is our purpose?  "What is the chief end of man?"  The catechism responds, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever."  Here the authors argue that the pursuit of the good is found in the pursuit of God.

So, what does this mean for us - especially in a pluralistic society where Christian theology does not necessarily carry the same weight that it did 400 years ago?  In his book, The Anxious Generation, self-avowed atheist and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes what he views as the three dimensions of our social existence.  All of our actions can be plotted on this imaginary graph.  The X axis represents our social connectedness, and the Y axis represents our social hierarchy.  Borrowing from Durkheim, he argues that the Z axis is the divinity axis or the axis of spirituality.  There are thoughts, actions, and behaviors that lift us up and those that tear us down. 

For Aristotle, spiritual living which contributed to eudaimonia was found in the pursuit of arete (excellence) through living out the virtues.  Aquinas added to Aristotle's work theological language and an understanding that ultimate eudaimonia cannot be achieve outside of a supernatural union with God.  He adds to the temporal pursuit of virtue a spiritual component of beatitude.  The authors of the Westminster Catechism further clarify that to know and pursue God is the ultimate purpose for which we have been created and the source of ultimate eudaimonia.