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Unhappy Life When No One Wills to Be Unhappy

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Submitted By ewaters32
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1. Augustine asked, “How can anyone suffer an unhappy life by the will, when absolutely no one wills to be unhappy?” How would the Consolation of Philosophy answer this question? a. How can anyone suffer an unhappy life by the will when absolutely no one wills to be unhappy? i. We found that it is by the will that human beings deserve and therefore receive either a happy or an unhappy life. ii. How can we claim that it is by the will that human beings achieve a happy life, when so many are unhappy despite the fact that everyone wills to be happy? iii. It is one thing to will rightly or wrongly, and quiet another to deserve something because of a good or bad will iv. Just because you will to be happy does not mean you are going to be happy v. No surprise that unhappy human beings do not attain the happy life that they will vi. So when we say that it is by the will that human beings are unhappy we don’t mean that they will to be unhappy, but that their will is in such a state that unhappiness must follow whether they will it or not.
(On Free Choice of the Will, PAGE 23) b. How would the Consolation of Philosophy answer this question? vii. Book III is taken up with the proof of God’s existence viii. Based on the inadequacy of human desires to produce true happiness ix. Being capable of perfect happiness-in fact the source of that perfect happiness is innate and no human beings attain it through earthly goods, and the source of that perfect happiness must exist outside the earthly realm x. Emphasis is on the futility of seeking happiness through earthly desires xi. Examples of earthly desires: wealth, power…etc… xii. True Happiness is the pursuit of God through intellectual and spiritual means. It is considered the supreme good by

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