Perpetual Euphoria

Perpetual Euphoria: On the duty to be happy – Pascal Bruckner.

As the title implies, Bruckner’s thesis is that once happiness becomes a duty, which it has evolved into in post-post- enlightenment societies (life, liberty and the pursuit of.....), it becomes well-nigh unachievable. Counterfeits are too easily achieved, these include many of the forms of what is currently defined as “happiness” (i.e. they can be bought fairly cheaply in the post-modern consumer society) and they become banal and no longer really qualify. He goes on to propose that the persistence of suffering and death which Western cultures, try as they might, have been unable to vanquish, gives lie to all of the promises of perpetual happiness on earth achieved by any of the myriad means advertised incessantly (self-help books, plastic surgery, political programs, etc). His final statement seems to be that, firstly, we can actively palliate and dignify some aspects of suffering and death to the benefit of the afflicted and of society in general, secondly, while we may never triumph over them, at least some (very few) amongst us can cock them a snook by using them as catalysts to create our greatest works of art. He finally says that perhaps the secret of a good life is not to give a damn about happiness, not to seek it as such, but let it retain its aleatory, unexpected and surprising character which we must relish when and if it touches us, but only in the pursuit of something else.

This could qualify as a lot of French philosophical bull and a waste of the paper its printed on, but I found it at least modestly stimulating and the guy can turn a really clever phrase now and again.