Morality: Obligation, Or A Call To Happiness?

Morality: obligation, or a call to happiness? In modern ethical discussion, the idea of happiness being the source of a moral theology has all but disappeared. Instead, ethicists today, both Christian and secular have embraced an ethical theory reduced to matters of obligation. "What can or can't I do?" "How far can I go before I sin?" This simplistic notion of morality can even go to further extremes with questions such as, "How many times must I make an act of charity?" "How often must I pray?"

One can notice right away that an obligation based morality is overlooking some very important things. Servais Pinckaers, a moral theologian has pointed out a couple of these overlooked themes. The first of which is friendship. Friendship in its essence is necessarily free, and certainly not a matter of obligation. But isn't friendship something that has a large impact on our lives and choices we make? This is especially highlighted if we turn to St. Thomas Aquinas who described charity as a friendship with God. The second theme that Pinckaers points out is that of courage or fortitude. Fortitude plays such an integral part in the daily choices we make, especially ethical decisions, and especially those which require the strength of the virtue of courage. However, even though fortitude ranks as one of the 4 cardinal virtues, and is a hinge upon which the door of an ethical life swings, obligation based moralists are silent about it.

We must recognize also that happiness as the springboard of morality is not a new concept. The ancients, especially Aristotle, saw happiness as the primary drive to create a moral theory. Happiness for centuries has been seen as the primordial human longing, something which we all desire. Morality was never seen as simply a science of obligations and exterrior imperatives, rather, morality was seen as the science of virtue, instilling certain qualities and dispositions of the heart and soul that can lead a person to true and complete happiness.

Ever since Kant, happiness based moral systems have been looked upon with much suspicion becasue they were seen as conducive to hedonism and selfishness. Now these may be justified accusations if the human person is seen simply as a being seeking satisfaction for his needs and cravings. But the human person is more than this, and the happiness that I am speaking of is much more than a temporary satisfaction of cravings. The happiness that we are seeking, in the Christian tradition, is a true and complete happiness that cannot be quenched by anything in this world. No matter how many times our needs are met (money, sex, love etc.) there is always more....the human person is NEVER satisfied. Why? Becasue we have been made with a capacity for the infinite. Nothing can ever quiet our desire for happiness save one thing, the One source of all perfection. Ultimately, the happiness we are all seeking is found in union with God.

If the desire for happiness is seen in this light, as a journey to complete, true, unselfish and utter fulfillment, then a moral system based on leading us to the ultimate happiness is what we need to explore. What does this entail? In short, it intails embracing the virtues. Faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, are the virtues that will not only aid us in living a happy life here on earth, but they more impotantly carve for us the path to complete happiness. In determining our daily choices and actions, what is a more profound motivation; Obligatory external laws and rules, or the promise of etenal bliss? This is one of the fundamental purposes of revelation (Scripture and Tradition); Not to impose on us a list of laws and rules, but to show us the way to true happiness.