Why We Are Restless
As indicated by the subtitle, this culturally significant book engages our quest for contentment through the genealogical lenses of four French moralists -- Montaigne, Pascal, Rousseau and Tocqueville -- each of whom lived in different centuries in a cascading process of influence through changing circumstances. Although there is historical progression in terms of ideas, it struck me that the differences between these four men are also temperamental, which is bound to influence one's conception of happiness. Each of these figures features on standard French literature courses, and I reviewed a major biography of Montaigne in these pages a number of years ago. The notion of flourishing is by definition related to one's understanding of the nature of the human being, which has been metaphysically contracted over this period, corresponding to the rise of materialism and consumerism.
The basic question is how we should live. Montaigne answers the question by aspiring to enjoy the human condition, which the authors call 'immanent contentment' or moderation through variation, where one achieves a certain balance and enjoys life in the moment. This has a lot to be said for it in terms of what Charles Taylor calls affirmation of ordinary life. In the time of Pascal, the ideal was the 'honnête homme', but he regarded this as a rather superficial in relation to the essential spiritual quest. Rousseau was influenced by both men in criticising the bourgeois ideal and in sentimentally immersing himself in nature. Tocqueville's famous work is about democracy in America in the 1830s, where the ambitious pursuit of happiness lies at the origin of the Republic and democratic individualism. He remarked that American society is all middle-class and observed a people 'restless in the midst of their well-being' -- which is still the case in our time. So, paradoxically, seeking worldly contentment leads to widespread discontent, notably where the depth dimension of being has gone missing and the 'web of permanence' has been dissolved -- the soul is now naked.
The conclusion on liberal education and the art of choosing is revealing, encapsulated in the graduate question: law school or a PhD? Gifted young people with an excess of options are concerned about 'spending their chips' and investing their potential in a particular course of life, yet this is essential: converting 'the hazy but infinitely promising might be into a definite and limited is' and striving to remain as long as possible in the condition of stem cells. (p. 177) The 'misère' identified by Pascal and Rousseau 'is an enduring sign of the mismatch between the kind of happiness we pursue and the kind of beings we are' in terms of self-transcendence -- to lose one's self is to find one's Self -- and our susceptibility to distraction and diversion hides this very 'misère'. It is here that our four moralists have a great deal to contribute to our own consideration of 'the framework of abiding questions that structures human life', and indeed it was Pascal who said that we did not know how to sit still and were therefore subject to distraction and anxiety. I would add that we each need to find our own still centre, which has to entail some form of regular spiritual practice, giving our day a rhythm of withdrawal and return, contemplation and activity. This study is a rich resource for reflection.