An Introduction to Eudaimonics

Simply put - eudaimonia is the highest good available to humans. It is within us - not some external presence we feel duty bound toward. All people can achieve eudaimonia. It is an objective end toward which all subjectivity meaningfully applies. Everybody finds eudaimonia in different ways. It is complete, perfect happiness.

But what IS it? And is it only an anthropocentric entity? Well, no. I believe eudaimonia has a lot more to give to the world than its current Ancient Greek meaning of human happiness and well-being. Not only is eudaimonia happiness and fulfilment, it is health and intrinsic value, it is morality and justice, it is love, truth and beauty, it is heaven on earth, and, ultimately, God. This may sound confusing. How can one idea, especially one of such a debatable term as happiness, be extended to such a wide range of human definitions of what we deem to be good? And does it extend to nature?

The answer lies among a debate poked and prodded at for centuries. Scientists, philosophers and theologians alike have teased and circumferenced the only rational and testable explanation of God we have. And it was once an argument of such power and persuasion our ancestors were, perhaps, afraid to accept it in a period of personal and social upheaval. Ultimately, it was heavily misinterpreted, and religious belief grew. Throughout the modern world it has significant influence politically, socially, economically and spiritually. As well as dominating ancient culture, its modern interpretations have as much effect on us as ever. We know when it is mis-used - we can feel it. We've evolved to sense it - just like all the natural world revolves around it we find ourselves cast adrift from it and if we only listen and observe nature from whence we came we will find eudaimonia once again.

Yes, but what is it? This question has stumped millions for millennia. And millions have the answer, if only they knew it. The title of the blog may give the game away...

Balance is an ancient concept. We're all familiar with it, and we're all familiar with just how important it is. Balance is spread generically through our systems. From imbalances have grown survival instincts, from evolution have evolved forms of balance immense and indescribable. Beauty is in balance, health of all things is balance, love of the world is balance. And from all perceptions and representations comes the combination of all balance - the perfect balance - the balance I call oalance.

Our Mother

Pray every day to your Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother,
that your soul become as perfect as your Heavenly Father’s Holy Spirit is perfect,
and that your body become as perfect as the body of your Earthly Mother is perfect...

After this manner, therefore, pray to your Heavenly Father:
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name...

And after this manner pray to your Earthly Mother:
Our Mother which art upon earth, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, and thy will be done in us as it is in thee.
As thou sendest every day thy angels, send them to us also.
Forgive us our sins, as we atone all our sins against thee.
And lead us not into sickness, but deliver us from all evil,
for thine is the earth, the body, and the health. Amen.”

And they all prayed together with Jesus
to the Heavenly Father and to the Earthly Mother.

(An excerpt from Jesus’ teachings in The Essene Gospel of Peace, a first-century
manuscript translated by St. Jerome in the Secret Archives of the Vatican.)

Goddess Equilibrium

So many new understandings have emerged to do with what I now call 'holistic equilibrium dynamics'. Having run workshops on this at Schumacher College, I have come to a whole new understanding of what Eudaimonics essentially does - it would seem it 'solves' to some extent the Problem of Opposites. C.G. Jung notes 'Life is born only of the spark of opposites'. The integral equilibrium is, it would appear, the 'union' in the union of opposites, but must I believe be ultimately feminine in its nature, hence the God Balance would appear more likely a Goddess Equilibrium, where Libra herself is Venus and all associated harmony Goddesses.

Ever more new understandings are emerging from this, so many of which I haven't written down here, but needless to say I feel Libra is the Law of All, and the eudaemon connecting it all is Eros where our inner core is the 'psyche' of perfect balance. The Daemon of the Whole is, if anything, a Daemoness!

"Our Mother which art upon earth, hallowed be thy name..."

Schumacher York

We aim to build the foundations for a 'Schumacher North College', based on the blueprint of the set-up in Devon. I think Schumacher York could go further. It could form what I term a 'holiment'. This is a new term for 'holistic community management'.

Holiment would have 2 main priorities - the key development of new 'holitical' theory and institutions, and the key development of 'promencial' frameworks.

Holitics is self-explanatory. Politics derives from the word 'polis' meaning 'city', as do citizen, policeman and policy. Human oriented to no small degree. Holitics embodies all natural principles, life and non-life, anthropocentric and non-anthropocentric, scientific and philosophical coupled with a deep underlying sense of connection and meaning to our environments, ecologies and intrinsic values.

Promence requires more detail. From the Latin word 'promeritum' (credit) and 'pro-rata' (proportional) it would act antagonistically to finance. As a means of buying and selling, the artificial grading of products and services by holiment allocates a 'price' or 'pro-rate' on their sustainable and ethical integrity. Not only does it identify the 'worthiness' of said product or service, individuals can use these rates as a form of quantified exchange. Every participant would have a personal 'pro-rate' that increases according to their 'spending' habits on 'holisised' goods and decrease when they partake in 'holisised' community activities. A 'holisis' is a holistic (cost-benefit) analysis, conducted by 'holisisers'. An individual account would account would rise when spending and decrease when paid off through third sector activities, therefore acts as a form of credit. Your promencial account, in an ideal world, should be 0, or even negative. If you do not pay off your promence account you may be punished by law. Your individual grading would initially be attached to your financial status, after which all promencial activity is then separate. The accounts would be transparent within the community network.

Finally, how would holiment unify social, environmental and economic affairs? What connects them? Eudaimonics. At the centre of holimentary proceedings and promencial holisising would be oalance. Finding balance in all sectors of life is the foundation for strong holiment and strong, informed holisisation.

Politics informs parliament on the economy and economic growth powered by finance. Holitics would inform holiment on the eudaimony and eudaimonic growth powered by promence. Only through co-operation and some overhaul of our institutions may we tackle our deep-rooted social, environmental and economic affairs.