On Satisfaction
A conversation with moral philosopher John Stuart Mill.
Today, when we hear the words “moral philosophy”, the first thing that may come to mind is the popular NBC sitcom The Good Place. Back in the day, mid-1800s to be exact, John Stuart Mill was the Chidi of his time.
It’s been 159 years since he dropped Utilitarianism, a book filled with normative ethical theories that maximize well-being for all individuals. In this interview, we take a deeper look at Mill’s order of satisfaction.
TA: Hey John, thanks for joining us today. Here’s my dirty secret: I find most of my happiness in things that don’t create too much satisfaction. There’s a never-ending list of books I want to read or reread, skills I want to learn or continue to develop. I have this insatiable desire to keep learning more about myself and the world. It brings me immense happiness, and I often times get overwhelmed. What is your secret to satisfaction?
JSM: It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is only because they only know their own side of the question.
TA: Given his famous words, I know that I know nothing, I can only imagine how dissatisfied Socrates must have been. Socrates found enjoyment in understanding the limits of human knowledge. He spent his time provoking Athenians in the city, posing questions to challenge their awareness. He ended up being sentenced to death as a nuisance. Did he live a happy life? Is it possible to be both truly happy with the world and dissatisfied with it?
JSM: It is indisputable that the being whose capacities of enjoyment are low, has the greatest chance of having them fully satisfied; and a highly endowed being will always feel that any happiness which he can look for, as the world is constituted, is imperfect.
TA: So in essence, I’m doomed… But in all seriousness, wouldn’t it be easier to shift my perspective and find happiness in things that have the greatest chance to be satisfied? There’s days where I wake up and want to solve the problems of the world. There’s other days I wake up and want to lay around the house and watch Netflix. One of these options is considerably easier than the other… why would I keep striving to find happiness as a “highly endowed” individual if it has a strong correlation with dissatisfaction?
JSM: But [you] can learn to bear its imperfections, if they are at all bearable; and they will not make [you] envy the being who is indeed unconscious of the imperfections, but only because he feels not at all the good which those imperfections qualify.
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For the last couple weeks, I’ve been burning out while working harder than ever to execute business plans. I find enjoyment in the work I’m striving to do, but it doesn’t always feel great in the moment so I started saying that life is not about happiness, it’s about fulfillment. After talking to John Stuart Mill, I would like to revise.
Live a life of happiness, but prepare not to be satisfied.
Where do we go from here? I think some East Asian philosophers would like to chime in on this conversation. Coming soon.
