The Good Life: Ethics and the Pursuit of Happiness

by Herbert McCabe

The Dalai Lama once wrote that the object of human existence was to be happy. This sounds extremely glib as happiness in the popular imagination is a feeling and in the words of the song 'the greatest gift that we possess'. On the other hand, von Hugel wrote 'Religion has never made me happy;it's no use shutting your eyes to the fact that the deeper you go, the more alone you will find yourself' This small masterpiece by the late Fr Herbert McCabe of the Dominican order steers a steady courss between these two extremes. We feels instinctively that human beings are designed to enjoy themselves and to be happy and yet we are told that suffering is good for the soul. But in the Catholic tradition the true object of human existence is the vision of God and nothing less than this will ever make us truly happy. But Fr McCabe explores much deeper issues. Is Happiness a pleasure or a pain? You hardly know. Certainly it is not a comfort for comfort spells seciurity and hapiness can take you out of yourself to a degree where all secutiry is left behind. Behind a feeling of exultation, you can sense the flame of incandescent terror. This short book is entirely original and will further enhance McCabe's posthumous reputation.

Genres: Philosophy, Theology, Catholic, Religion

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2005

About the author

Herbert McCabe was a much loved member of the English Province of the Dominican Order of Preachers. He was born on the 2nd August 1928 and studied chemistry and philosophy before joining the Dominicans in 1949.

“Faith seeking understanding” guided him through his life’s vocation - the study and teaching of the writings of St Thomas Aquinas. His work as a student chaplain led to the publication of The New Creation (1964) and Law, Love and Language (1968). Social radicalism and profound orthodoxy met and matched in Herbert’s thinking and preaching.

He was editor of New Blackfriars from 1964. Controversy attended these years in his life and ministry, and after some time in Ireland he taught in Oxford in the mid 1970s. “He had an unrivalled clarity of utterance, and in his hands Thomas became a vivid living voice...” (Eamon Duffy, The Tablet, 7 July 2001).
He regarded as his finest work the booklet The Teaching of the Catholic Church which was a catechism rooted in the teachings of the Second Vatican Council commissioned by the then Archbishop of Birmingham.

A loyal friend, fierce critic of woolly thinking and passionate advocate of social justice, he was made a Master of Sacred Theology by the Dominican order in 1989. He died on the 28th of June 2001.

Reviews

[Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are good philosophy popularizers, and then there are great philosophy popularizers. Herbert McCabe belongs to the latter group. The ease with which he writes (judging, at least, by the product) makes reading this small book a joy, such that you lose track of time. And before you know it, it is over. "The Good Life" is an unfinished work on ethics from an Aristotelian-Thomistic approach. The aim of the author was to justify that approach to a modern audience that is completely under the grip of Cartesian dualism and the Enlightenment's moral philosophies, among other things. McCabe sort of achieves this by appealing chiefly to facts about language, and centrally to meaning. Not that he reduces everything to language, but rather that he uses it as a point of entry for the newcomer to this inexhaustible subject. Sadly, McCabe never finished this little opus, and to justify the publication of "The Good Life" as a book, the editors thought it would help to add a couple of related papers at the end. On the whole, however, the book lacks the structure of a finished thought; a great tragedy. Nevertheless, throughout the reading I often found myself underlining full paragraphs instead of just a few lines because of the many novel insights contained therein, insights that just beg for further elaboration, for the launching of many new lines of philosophical inquiry. That by itself is enough to strongly recommend this book.

[Ash F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had difficulty deciding whether this should have three stars or four. My big problem with this book is that it is quite clearly unfinished, and while there are no secrets that the editor has assembled this from unpublished manuscripts, it does still feel like an early draft. The same ideas (and their explanations, with the same examples) repeat for no obvious reason, possibly because some chapters are apparently essays written on the same subject, but included as chapters it feels like walking in circles. I think it would have been better edited down to about 2/3rds of the final length, and maybe included in a collection ala God Matters.

I still bumped it up to a four, because McCabe is as good as he always was. McCabe makes Aristotelian ethics very accessible, without oversimplifying. Always a joy to read.

[Zak · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first foray into Herbert and I’m hooked.

Convincing, if incomplete, counterpunch to a Cartesian framework to life and ethics. Lots to dwell on from what it means to be human to the relation of virtues to the good life and even whether animals have free will.

[Stephen Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does it repeat some ideas? Yes. However, when attempting to take difficult and important philosophical ideas like the essence of creatures, giving little reminders is not a bad idea. McCabe is worth the read if you want a short modern refresher on Aristotle and Aquinas.

[graceofgod · Rating 5 out of 5]

!!! Absolutely essential.