14. False Happiness: Glory, Fame, and Power
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Lecture Notes
Main Topics #
Article 3: Beatitude and Glory/Fame #
The Objection: Glory (defined by Ambrose as “clear knowledge with praise”) allows men to achieve a kind of immortality. Through enduring fame, men transcend mortality—consider Homer or Shakespeare, still being read thousands of years after death. Boethius says men make themselves immortal through fame in future time.
Thomas’s Response:
- Human knowledge is caused by things known, whereas divine knowledge causes things known
- Therefore, human beatitude cannot be caused by human knowledge
- Human knowledge is often mistaken, especially regarding singular contingent things (human acts), making human glory fallacious
- God’s glory is always true because God cannot be deceived
- The perfection of human good depends on divine knowledge as its cause, not human knowledge
- Human fame lacks stability and is easily lost through false rumor
- Beatitude must have intrinsic stability, which fame does not possess
Critical Distinction: The glory that constitutes beatitude is “the glory which is with God,” not the glory from men. This is the glory revealed before God’s angels, not before the multitude.
Article 4: Beatitude and Power #
The Objection: Men who have power seem most like God; power enables ruling others; men naturally flee servitude and impotence as the opposite of beatitude.
Thomas’s Response:
- Power is a beginning (ἀρχή, arche), an ability to act—not an end itself
- Beatitude is a last end, not a beginning
- Power is indifferent to good and evil—the same power can be used well or badly
- God’s power is identical with His goodness, so He cannot use power except well
- In men, power can be abused; therefore beatitude consists more in the good use of power (through virtue) than in power itself
- Power brings its own imprisonment: the tyrant must fear those over whom he has power
The Tyrant’s Paradox: Those surrounding a powerful tyrant whom he terrifies are precisely those whom he must fear. Ancient tyrants could only be shaved by their daughters due to fear of assassination. Stalin exemplified this—constantly eliminating those closest to him.
Four General Reasons Against All Exterior Goods #
Thomas provides four universal arguments against riches, honors, fame, and power:
Compatibility with Evil: Beatitude is the highest good and cannot coexist with evil. Yet all these goods can be found in both good and bad people.
Self-Sufficiency: Beatitude must be self-sufficient (αὐτάρκεια, autarkeia), lacking nothing necessary to man. Yet each of these goods can be attained while lacking wisdom, health, and other necessary goods. Example: Euclid teaching a king geometry—even becoming wealthy from it profits the king nothing if he lacks understanding.
Freedom from Evil: From beatitude, no evil can follow. But riches can harm their possessor; power and fame can lead to death; honors can be lost. Scripture: “Wealth is sometimes conserved to the harm of their lord” (Ecclesiasticus 5:12).
Interior vs. Exterior Causation: Beatitude is ordered through interior principles (natural ordering to it), but these goods come mostly from exterior causes and fortune. The etymology of “happiness” (from Latin fortuna) reveals this dependence on chance. Aristotle uses eutuchia (good fortune/good luck) in the Poetics, distinct from eudamonia.
Key Arguments #
The Argument from Causation (Human vs. Divine Knowledge) #
- Human knowledge is caused from things known
- Divine knowledge is the cause of things known
- Just as God’s love causes the good in things (while our love is caused by the good in things), divine knowledge causes what is known
- Therefore, beatitude’s perfection cannot be caused by human knowledge but must depend on divine knowledge as its cause
The Argument from Order #
- Power is a beginning, not an end
- Beatitude is a last end, not a beginning
- What is a beginning is ordered to something else
- Therefore, power cannot be beatitude
The Argument from Indifference #
- Power can be used well or badly
- Beatitude is a proper and perfect good (not indifferent to good and evil)
- Therefore, beatitude consists in the good use of power (virtue) rather than in power itself
The Argument from Stability #
- Beatitude must be stable
- Human glory is easily lost by false rumor
- Beatitude has intrinsic stability; glory has only accidental stability
- Therefore, beatitude cannot consist in glory
Important Definitions #
Gloria (Glory): “Clear knowledge with praise” (clara notitia cum laude)—Ambrose’s definition, often cited by Thomas. The manifestation of good to the knowledge of others.
Fama (Fame): Enduring reputation through time. While men may achieve a kind of immortality through being read for centuries (Homer, Shakespeare), this is not beatitude.
Potentia (Power): An ability or beginning (ἀρχή, arche) to act. It is indifferent to good and evil and therefore cannot constitute the ultimate good.
Ἀρχή (arche): A beginning or principle of action. It is ordered to something else and therefore cannot be a last end.
Αὐτάρκεια (autarkeia): Self-sufficiency. A defining characteristic of beatitude—it must lack nothing necessary to man.
Examples & Illustrations #
Homer and Shakespeare as Immortal through Fame #
Berquist notes that Homer and Shakespeare, still being read thousands of years after their deaths, seem to possess a kind of immortality. According to Samuel Johnson’s circle, a poet is proven if his work is still read a hundred years after his death. Yet even Shakespeare, read everywhere and having more plays performed than anyone else, did not achieve beatitude through this fame.
Westminster Abbey and the Poet’s Corner #
Visitors to Westminster Abbey go more frequently to the Poet’s Corner than to the tombs of great soldiers or kings, suggesting a continued bond between readers and poets. Yet this fame, however stable over centuries, cannot constitute beatitude.
Machiavelli and the Kennedy Administration #
Berquist mentions that during the Kennedy administration, officials (influenced by Machiavelli) sought to achieve immortal fame through their deeds. Yet Kennedy himself discovered that giving orders does not ensure they are carried out—a lesson on the limits of power in practice.
The Tyrant’s Paradox: Ancient and Modern Examples #
- Ancient tyrants could only be shaved by their daughters, fearing assassination from any man with a blade
- Stalin constantly eliminated those closest to him, fearing their power
- Kennedy remarked that orders from the presidency are not necessarily carried out; bureaucracy intervenes
- The Pope faces similar challenges in commanding obedience
Euclid and the King’s Geometry #
When a king asked Euclid if there were a quicker way to learn geometry, Euclid replied: “There is no royal road to geometry.” Even when the king paid Euclid a drop of gold for each theorem learned, the king profited nothing—wealth could not substitute for understanding.
Notable Quotes #
“Human knowledge is caused from the things known, but divine knowledge is the cause of the things known.”
“The perfection of the human good, which is called beatitude, cannot be caused by human knowledge. But rather, the human knowledge of the beatitude of someone proceeds and in some way is caused from the human beatitude itself.”
“It is impossible that beatitude consists in power. For power has the notion of a beginning. But beatitude has the definition of a last end.”
“Power has itself to the good and to the bad; so beatitude is more able to consist in some good use of power, which would be through virtue, than in the power itself.”
“For human knowledge is often mistaken, deceit. And especially in singular contingent things. Of which sort are human acts. And therefore, frequently there, often, human glory is fallacious.”
“A man powerful, who is surrounded by attendants whom he inspires in fear, indeed, for whom he fears still long.” (On the tyrant’s self-imprisonment)
“There is no royal road to geometry.” (Euclid to the king)
Questions Addressed #
Why does enduring fame through literature not constitute beatitude? #
Because beatitude depends on divine knowledge as its cause, not on human knowledge. Human knowledge is often mistaken and lacks the creative power of divine knowledge. Moreover, fame is unstable (easily lost through false rumor) and extrinsic to the person—it exists in the minds of others, not in the beatified person themselves.
How can power be imperfect if it seems to make one like God? #
God’s power is identical with His goodness (potentia = bonitas in God), so He cannot use power except well. In men, power and goodness are distinct; therefore men can use power badly. Beatitude consists not in power itself but in the virtuous use of power, which itself derives from goodness.
Why do bad men often seem to gain the most power? #
Power is indifferent to good and evil. Bad men may pursue power precisely because they lack virtue and goodness. The pursuit of power without virtue leads to tyranny. Bad men corrupt absolutely when given absolute power, illustrating that power without virtue cannot bring beatitude.
What is the significance of the etymology of “happiness” from “fortune”? #
The word traces to Latin fortuna (chance, fortune). This etymology reveals that exterior goods (riches, power, fame, honor) depend mostly on fortune and exterior causes rather than on interior principles. True beatitude, being ordered through interior principles, cannot consist in goods that depend on chance.