Desire, happiness, Schopenhauer, Spinoza, human satisfaction, philosophical exploration
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Abstract
This document explores the complex relationship between desire and happiness, delving into the philosophical perspectives of Schopenhauer and Spinoza to understand the nature of desire and its impact on human satisfaction.
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[...] Yet, the two concepts are eminently different. While needs are inherent to our nature and therefore require satisfaction to avoid the risk of death, 'desire' is more of a contingent notion. Desire is in some way the search for something one believes or knows to be a source of satisfaction, and whose absence provokes feelings of lack, frustration but in no case death. Desire maintains an ambivalent relationship with the desired object and is therefore often considered a problem. Desire moves from object to object, as it is satisfied, and thus condemns each person to dissatisfaction. [...]
[...] No, because desires, bearers of lack, are also affirmative and judgment-generating. As Spinoza wrote: 'We do not desire any thing because we find it good, but, on the contrary, we judge that a thing is good because we desire it' (Baruch Spinoza, The Ethics, 1677). Therefore, it will be necessary to ask ourselves whether we submit to our desires or if they are born from our will to be happy. If it appears that the satisfaction of our desires, considered as the drivers of our actions, leads to a form of happiness 'the satisfaction, happiness, as men call it, is in its essence and in its proper sense nothing but negative; in it, nothing is positive' (Schopenhauer, LThe World as Will and Representation, 1819) (II). [...]
[...] The question then arises of the relationship between happiness and desire. Desire experienced as a lack is thus, in itself, a suffering that only ends temporarily. The condemnation to desire would therefore be a condemnation to the absence of happiness. For example, the main character of Martin Scorsese's masterpiece, The Wolf of Wall Street, is a ruthless billionaire who seems to have everything to be happy. Convinced that he is close to happiness, his whimsical nature will ultimately lead him behind bars, a place that cannot be considered synonymous with happiness. [...]
