The pursuit of happiness
The American founding and human flourishing
(Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull, 1819)
Being happy looks like something
Happiness in the sense of political philosophy is not a vague notion or experience demonstrated by mere feelings and material achievements. It is a philosophy that undergirds the American founding. A political philosophy based in virtue is hopeful, declaring the truth that we can, in fact, govern ourselves.
In short, happiness can be achieved when how we live together is based on universal and objective truth. “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” We are happy when we are in right relationship with one another. Right relationship from the perspective of the American founding is the recognition of natural rights possessed by every human being and a restrained government that does not infringe upon these rights.
These natural rights are based on natural law, a law higher than human invention, one that is universal and objective (true for everyone). Laws based on human invention are not based on enduring principles. They are dangerously dependent on human fancy. What is right or wrong, like genocides, can change with time and cultures if they are not based on unchanging, universal principles.
Morality, right living, and politics
First, let’s define morality and virtue. Even though I use the terms loosely, they have somewhat different meanings. Morality is generally how we live together. They are societal norms and dictate what is right and wrong. Virtues are internal character traits and habits that make you a good person. Morals dictate what you should do, while virtue defines who you are.
Morality is a dreaded word for many people, but it doesn’t need to be. In fact, morality is all around us. Most people would say it is wrong to hunt down and assault gay men and women. This is morality. We would also say it is wrong to watch a neighbor beat his children day after day and do nothing. This is morality. Most of us would also say it is right to feed someone who is starving on the street. This is morality.
Morality is a way of living based on the truth of who we are as human beings. It is the only way to secure and defend individual human rights and protect citizens and communities from the arbitrariness of government power. It is also how we restrain citizens from tearing each other apart.
Morality is a way of living together. How we govern, whether we help our neighbors, care for children, give people the benefit of doubt, etc.
The government arbitrarily depriving citizens of their freedom, invading their privacy, confiscating their property, and the like are all examples of a tyrannical regime, a government acting immorally, against the natural rights of human beings.
The American founders believed that the only way our Republic could survive was to understand the importance of equally protecting human rights based in right morality. This is why are founders thought government should concern itself with forming the moral character of its citizens. Some of the earliest state constitutions, such as Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia discussed the importance of the formation of citizens in virtue.
How else can a Republic survive?
Philosophers as diverse as Aristotle, Cicero, Aquinas, and Locke all stated that the goal of human life is happiness, and that virtue is the condition for happiness. George Washington, in his first inaugural address expressed the consensus of his contemporaries when he said:
“…there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity” (1789).
In the Federalist (essential reading to understand the American founding), Madison asserts that without virtue, republican government will fail. He says,
“As there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust so there are other qualities in human nature which justify a certain portion of esteem and confidence. Republican government presupposes the existence of these qualities in a higher degree than any other form.” Madison goes on to say that if there is no virtue then only despotism, totalitarian government, can restrain them from devouring one another. (Federalist 55).
Enforcement of moral law
Crime and punishment are based on enforcing morality (right living) in community. Justice is defined as being in right relationship with one another. Murder, rape, assault, robbery, kidnapping, and other crimes are not virtuous actions, they violate moral norms, and they are unjust. They violate the natural rights of others and the human dignity of the person committing them.
The American founders sought to protect the liberty of citizens by restraining the government, but also by emphasizing why this was important: that human beings have natural rights grounded in natural law. The founders also understood and addressed the dangers of government power.
This newsletter addresses both the dangers of, and the need to restrain, government power and the necessity of citizens to be formed in virtue. Recognizing and striving for both is the only way our Republic will survive.
About the author
J. Steven Bromwich is a criminal defense investigator and ethicist, with advanced training in history and diplomatic studies. He writes about crime, power, and ethics to help readers navigate modern problems through historical perspective and first principles.