The Enchiridion, Session 2: Glory Is Fleeting, So Act Today with Honor
Change begins with the awareness that comes from the willingness to see the world as it is, not as we make it up.
The word desire appears 209 times in the Robin Hard translations of The Enchiridion and Discourses. Epictetus wanted us to understand how our desires provoke us to act against our Nature. We will see further when we study David Hume how our passions, unbridled by reason, drive us.
To help guide us in our consideration of the dynamics of desire, I’ll be dipping into the excellent book, On Desire, by philosopher William Irvine, who has written extensively about the Stoic philosophers.
Irvine observes about desire,
Because we continually experience desire, we are oblivious to its presence in us. It is like the noise made by the fan of a computer. The noise is always there, a low whisper, and because it is always there, we stop noticing it. Similarly, we are usually oblivious to our desires—to their ebb and flow within us, to the role they play in our lives. It is only when our desires are intense (like when we fall in love) or when they come into conflict (like when we want a bowl of ice cream but, because we are on a diet, simultaneously want not to want it) that we pay attention to our desires, with a mixture of puzzlement and vexation. And because we are oblivious to the workings of desire within us, we are full of misconceptions about it.
Irvine’s purpose is to make us aware of “the extent to which these unbidden desires determine how you spend your days and, in the long run, how you spend your life.”
Studies show that “around the world, rising levels of affluence have not translated into increased levels of personal satisfaction.”
When personal satisfaction is elusive, Irvine argues, and Epictetus would agree, “Perhaps the only way to attain lasting happiness is not to change the world around us or our place in it but to change ourselves.”
If we become more aware of how our desires drive us, “we will no longer despise the life we are forced to live and will no longer daydream about living the life someone else is living; instead, we will embrace our own life and live it to the fullest.”
Scottie Scheffler recently won the British Open. In a press conference before the tournament, Scheffler’s heartfelt and nuanced comments reveal how his purpose is a check on his desire. Scheffler, who is perhaps the greatest golf champion since Tiger Woods, has learned that winning offers only transient good feelings and that other things are far more important.
I have no idea if Scheffler has studied the Stoics or other philosophers. Listening to him, it is clear that his mindset is deeply ingrained and not a mere aspiration. There is always more to learn, but Scheffler has learned a great deal already. This short clip is well worth your time. In just over 5 minutes, we receive a masterclass on purpose and desire. First, some highlights from his press conference: