Friday Coffee with MAP - May 17, 2024

Hello , and welcome to Friday Coffee with MAP!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

As we continue to build wellbeing in our own lives, it is worth asking ourselves: to whom did history’s great figures look for inspiration, motivation, and joy? In this week’s piece we dive into the definition of happiness shared by our nation’s founding fathers. Writer & historian Jeffery Rosen finds that the founders had a somewhat different concept of happiness than we do– one based in the writing of enlightenment thinkers and ancient philosophers. Rosen argues that we can draw meaning and inspiration from this version of happiness in the modern day.

The Founder's Guide to Happiness
_{by Jeffery Rosen for The Atlantic}

During the pandemic, Jeffery Rosen set out to read every book on a reading list that Thomas Jefferson provided a friend in 1771, five years before he started writing The Declaration of Independence. What he found changed the way he thought about the psychology of the Founders and, in particular, about how self-consciously they strived for self-improvement.

The classical and Enlightenment thinkers that Jefferson read defined happiness as the pursuit of virtue—as being good, rather than feeling good. The Founders believed accordingly that happiness results from the daily practice of mental and spiritual self-discipline, mindfulness, and rigorous time management. Happiness is always pursued, but never to be obtained.

The founders believed that “passion” was a synonym for “emotion,” and that happiness lay in mastering those passions in productive ways. In both enlightenment thought and the wisdom of philosophers like Plato, calm self-mastery and tranquility of mind was key to personal happiness.

There is evidence that the founders were very intentional in their pursuit of “mastery of the passions” Benjamin Franklin, as a young man, created a list of 13 classical virtues and resolved to end each day by running through a checklist of whether he had lived up to each one.

The Founders also believed that “that personal self-government was necessary for political self-government.” This is to say, that leaders in particular had a responsibility to be intentional in their pursuit of true happiness as it would help them overcome moral quandaries and the lure of corruption.

While it is evident that the Founders frequently failed to meet their own standards of moral perfection, their commitment to attaining self-mastery, greater knowledge, and continued personal growth– as advocated by the enlightenment thinkers and ancient philosophers they read– is noteworthy.

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So tell us: How do you feel about the founders view that happiness should not be looked at as a destination, but rather an ongoing pursuit? How do you implement this pursuit in your daily life?

We’re looking forward to hearing from you! Have a wonderful weekend.

Thank you,

The MAP Team

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