Hope happiness and the opening limit

Use in the book

The Athenian's opening pronouncement is bounded in two ways. Human beings cannot become blessed and happy “except for a few,” and the limit is specified as lasting while we live (973c). Neither qualification may be dropped. The statement is not that no living human can be happy, nor that death automatically brings happiness to everyone. The ensuing “fine hope” concerns obtaining what one has striven for by living as finely as possible and meeting an appropriate end.

Hope next becomes a condition of inquiry rather than only an expectation beyond death. At 974c the search and perplexity about wisdom exceed the seeker's hope; Clinias nevertheless concurs in hope of arriving, with the Athenian and over time, at the truest opinion. He assents provisionally to continue learning. His hope is neither the content of a demonstrated theorem nor a withdrawal from the conversation.

Number enters the ethical claim at 977d. A person without wisdom cannot become completely good and so happy. Here happiness is connected to complete virtue by an explicit negative argument, with wisdom its greatest part. It does not follow that the mere ability to count is a sufficient recipe for happiness. The Athenian has not yet completed the account of the wisdom that must be learned, and he renews that demand at 979d.

The positive theology supplies a prospect for this hope. The happy person wonders at the visible order and loves to learn as much as mortal nature permits (986c–d). The final affirmation, made in play and earnest together, describes the wise person's condition after death, but retains its difficult qualification about still being when dead (992b). It should not be rewritten as an unqualified demonstration of immortality. At 992c the opening limit is recalled with “completely” now explicit: the few who have natural virtue and the required studies are distinguished from the many.

The lawgiver's hymns and happiness at 980a–b connect the hope to a present manner of life. Clinias' wish is directed to the Athenian himself: may his celebration of the gods and purer life meet the best and finest end. The wish supports the conversation's solemn transition without yet proving the theology about to be offered.

Places to read

1. 973cμακαρίοις τε καὶ εὐδαίμοσιν … πλὴν ὀλίγων — The exception of a few belongs to the initial claim
2. 973cμέχριπερ ἂν ζῶμεν τοῦτο διορίζομαι — The Athenian explicitly delimits his statement
3. 973cκαλὴ δὲ ἐλπὶς τελευτήσαντι — The expectation after death is called a fine hope
4. 974c–dΣυμφήσομεν ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι σοι ἴσως — Clinias' concurrence is qualified by hope and “perhaps”
5. 977dτελέως ἀγαθὸς γενόμενος εὐδαίμων — Complete goodness and happiness are connected inside a negative construction
6. 980a–bὕμνοις τε καὶ εὐδαιμονίᾳ γεραίροντι — Honoring gods is joined to hymns and happiness
7. 992cτελέως μακαρίοις τε καὶ εὐδαίμοσι — The closing recapitulation makes completeness explicit

Translation in this edition

“Happy” and “blessed” remain distinct; the ordinary rendering of eudaimōn does not by itself explain the later daimonic allotment. At 977d the edition expressly preserves the negation over the entire claim, so that the wisdomless person does not first become completely good and only afterward fail to become happy.

Rare mortal fulfillment — μακάριος (makarios)

μακάριος (makarios)

Rare mortal fulfillment. Blessedness is paired with happiness and denied to living human beings except for a few. The exception and the lifetime limit both belong to the claim. Attested: μακαρίοις (973c). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Express limit of a thesis — διορίζειν (diorizein)

διορίζειν (diorizein)

Express limit of a thesis. The Athenian explicitly limits his claim concerning human happiness to the time while humans live. Attested: διορίζομαι (973c). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Striving to live finely — προθυμεῖσθαι (prothymeisthai)

προθυμεῖσθαι (prothymeisthai)

Striving to live finely. The hopeful prospect is related to what someone would be eager to attain through living as finely as possible within his power. Attested: προθυμοῖτ’ (973c). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Death and hope — τελευτᾶν (teleutan)

τελευτᾶν (teleutan)

Death and hope. The participle refers to someone who has died and for whom a fine hope is entertained. It marks the other side of the stated lifetime limit. Attested: τελευτήσαντι (973c). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Happy completion — τελευτᾶν (teleutan)

τελευτᾶν (teleutan)

Happy completion. Ending life happily is the goal attached to thinking rightly about number and good order. Attested: τελευτήσειν (978b). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Fine hope — καλός (kalos)

καλός (kalos)

Fine hope. The hope entertained for the person who has sought to live as well as possible is described as fine. Attested: καλὴ (973c). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Clinias’ wish for lawgiving — τέλος (telos)

τέλος (telos)

Clinias’ wish for lawgiving. The goal is what Clinias wishes for the Athenian’s laws and life, in connection with divine celebration and a finest end. Attested: τέλος (980b). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Life of divine honor — εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia)

εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia)

Life of divine honor. The noun joins hymns as the means or accompaniment of glorifying gods while passing one’s life. Attested: εὐδαιμονίᾳ (980b). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Qualified human possibility — εὐδαίμων (eudaimōn)

εὐδαίμων (eudaimōn)

Qualified human possibility. Happiness is paired with blessedness in the opening claim that only a few can attain it while living. Attested: εὐδαίμοσιν (973c). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Completion through goodness — εὐδαίμων (eudaimōn)

εὐδαίμων (eudaimōn)

Completion through goodness. The wisdomless person cannot become completely good and hence happy; the negative governs the entire progression. Attested: εὐδαίμων (977d). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

End of a life — εὐδαίμων (eudaimōn)

εὐδαίμων (eudaimōn)

End of a life. The person who is to end life happy must understand the relation between numerical order and goodness. Attested: εὐδαίμονα (978b). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Hope after death — ἐλπίς (elpis)

ἐλπίς (elpis)

Hope after death. The fine expectation that the person who has striven to live as finely as possible may meet the desired end; it is not stated as an automatic reward for every death. Attested: ἐλπὶς (973c). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Qualified strangeness — ἄτοπος (atopos)

ἄτοπος (atopos)

Qualified strangeness. The Athenian calls his account strange and, in a way, not strange: familiar judgments about life frame a disquieting thesis about happiness. Attested: ἄτοπον (973b). Hope happiness and the opening limit.

Strange and in a way not strange (contextual phrase)

ἄτοπον μὴν ἀκούσεσθαί σε λόγον οἶμαι, καί τινα τρόπον οὐκ ἄτοπον αὖ (973b)

The Athenian qualifies the strangeness of his own forthcoming account. Its denial of ordinary human blessedness is disquieting, but it is connected with familiar appraisals of a laborious life. The second clause does not simply cancel the first: τινα τρόπον marks the respect in which the account is also familiar. Hope happiness and the opening limit.

The exception and the temporal limit (contextual phrase)

πλὴν ὀλίγων—μέχριπερ ἂν ζῶμεν τοῦτο διορίζομαι (973c)

The exception of a few and the explicit limit while we live jointly qualify the pronouncement about blessedness and happiness. Dropping either strengthens the claim beyond the text. The subsequent fine hope after death also remains hope, not a statement that death automatically makes everyone happy. Hope happiness and the opening limit.

A fine hope for one who has died (contextual phrase)

καλὴ δὲ ἐλπὶς τελευτήσαντι (973c)

The dative participle identifies the recipient of the hope. Its surrounding explanation relates the hoped-for end to striving to live as finely as possible. The phrasing should therefore be preserved as an ethically conditioned expectation rather than rewritten into an unconditional proof of posthumous blessedness. Hope happiness and the opening limit.

The wish is for the Athenian himself (contextual phrase)

εἰ γάρ σοι τοῦτο τέλος εἴη τῶν νόμων (980b)

The optative with εἰ γάρ expresses Clinias’ wish, and σοι directs it to the Athenian. The following participles likewise concern his celebrating the gods and living more purely. The wish is not a claim that the laws themselves have already reached their goal or that the coming theology has been proved. Hope happiness and the opening limit.