Are you striking the right notes?

Anthony Clifford Grayling is probably my favourite living British philosopher. He is a polymath who turns his razor-sharp intellect to hundreds of different contemporary situations, events, trends, beliefs and attitudes. And his analysis is always a penetrating reflection on whatever topic he tackles. He is Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London and a fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford. AC Grayling has written over 20 books and edited 5 more. Although he is a serious academic philosopher, he also believes that philosophers should engage in public debate to bring a philosophical perspective to the issues of the day.

As part of his commitment to engage in public conversations, Grayling regularly contributes to newspaper columns and opinion pieces. These wide ranging miscellanies have been published in a series of books which I strongly recommend to anyone with an interest in how a philosophical approach is applied to life in the 21^st century. Also, his use of English is splendid, a real joy to read – no surprise as he is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature!

Because of the incredible breadth of his writings it is very difficult to pick just a few insights – there are so many. So I shall focus only on his insights into Socrates’ great question: “How should one live?”

First insight: a good life is a melodious one that strikes all the right notes. In talking about morality, Grayling suggests that instead of talking about “ideals” that we should strive for, we could better think of the good that we aspire to as analogous to musical notes which, when well assembled produce a harmony of quality. He suggests that there are at least seven notes that the best lives might seek to sound. These are the notes of meaning, intimacy, endeavour, truth, freedom, beauty and fulfilment. Let’s look a bit more at each of these notes that form the music of a life well-lived.

Meaning comes from identifying the values and goals that are deeply important to you and with which you write the narrative of your life as you live it. Intimacy concerns our deepest personal connections with others, our loves and friendships that sustain us. Endeavour means getting stuck in and doing something about your values and your goals. Truth is the note that entails facing up to the world as it is, not as you wish it would be. Freedom is essential to the good life as it makes us ultimately autonomous and responsible for our own choices. Independence of thought enables the well-lived life whereas dependent, un-free thinking results in us living like zombies. Beauty fundamentally enhances the good life; the quality of the setting in which we live can significantly affect the goodness of the lives we are living. Finally, fulfilment is the integration of the other six notes into a conscious project of trying to live well. In all this Grayling always advocates kindness and care for others as fundamental to the good life, as he sees our species as essentially social in nature.

Second insight: the great moral questions, the most urgent and important ones, are not about sex, drugs, unmarried mothers or gay marriage! They are, instead, about human rights, war and genocide, the arms trade, poverty in the Third World, corruption in high places and the ethical challenges posed by environmental problems caused by the heedless and insatiable rush for economic growth everywhere. These great moral questions are the ones that we should be tackling if we really want to live a good life! While his focus is on the big questions, he is not denying that some parochial concerns are important. For example, the horrific attitude of Zimbabwe to gay rights needs to be vigorously opposed. Also, any hint of child pornography must be rooted out and stopped by moral people everywhere.

Third insight: pleasure and duty are both integral parts of a flourishing life. Grayling’s latest book is titled: The Choice of Hercules. In the Late Renaissance and Enlightenment paintings of the myth, Hercules is approached by two young women, one handsome (Duty or Virtue) and the other beautiful (Pleasure or Vice). Given the morality of the day, he chooses Duty. But Grayling argues rigorously that the choice is a false dichotomy: both are part of a human life well-lived; both have much that is right and much that is wrong. What is clear is that the combination of what is right in both duty and pleasure suggests the essence of a good life.

So, what this great philosopher is advocating is this: see your life as a melodious blend of the seven notes, and ensure that you include both pleasure and duty in each note. And do spend mental and emotional energy addressing and tackling the great moral questions. And I say do look out for his books of collected articles: they are titled The Meaning of Things, The Reason of Things, The Mystery of Things and The Heart of Things. Enjoy!