Path to Happiness

[Asking St. Thomas Aquinas About the Path to Happiness] ‘Foretasting’ True Happiness Through Faith in a Society of Limitless Competition. Reported in the Catholic Times by a Catholic University Philosophy Professor.

Modern Korean society is engulfed in a vortex of unprecedented performance-driven culture and limitless competition. High suicide rates—among the highest in the OECD—and extremely low happiness indices clearly demonstrate the crisis facing modern people, who seek the meaning of their existence in volatile external factors such as material achievement, social status, and comparisons. 

A life wholly devoted to fleeting and unstable worldly values ​​inevitably leads to inner emptiness and existential anxiety, ultimately dismantling the very foundation of a truly human life. Amidst this crisis, the theology of faith presented by Thomas Aquinas offers more than mere religious comfort; it serves as a supreme strategy for establishing an unshakable inner foundation and recovering true happiness. 

Thomas identifies "blindness of mind" and "dullness of sense" as the causes behind humans losing the virtue of faith and failing to perceive spiritual good.  According to his sophisticated analysis, blindness of mind—stemming from lust —arises when the intellect harbors an aversion toward the spiritual principles it ought to pursue or becomes excessively attached to lesser values. Meanwhile, dullness of sense—stemming from gluttony—blunts the mind, thereby weakening the capacity to contemplate spiritual goods.

In Korean society, phenomena such as ceaseless social media comparisons, an obsession with appearance (exemplified by the normalization of plastic surgery), and a consumerist frenzy driven by an obsession with luxury goods beyond one’s means constitute a modern form of "blindness of mind" that narrows the intellect's lens. When one becomes immersed solely in sensory stimuli and instant gratification, the inner self fills with countless "sensory images," preventing it from dwelling upon higher truths.

In this context, the virtues of "temperance" and "chastity" serve as essential "purifying mechanisms" for restoring the integrity of intellectual activity. Temperance prepares the intellect to receive divine light by removing the sensory obstacles that powerfully pull human desire. What, then, is the "virtue of faith" that Thomas seeks to safeguard through these means? The Certainty of Faith Transcending Uncertain Variability.

Thomas defines "faith" as "a habit of the mind whereby eternal life is begun in us, making the intellect assent to what is non-evident". Here, faith is not merely an emotional stirring but a rigorous "act of the intellect." From an epistemological perspective, while faith lacks the clear intuition found in "knowledge" and "understanding," it is distinguished from mere "opinion" by its firm adherence. 

In particular, Thomas emphasizes the importance of ‘the power of example, which is stronger than words,’ within human action. When a believer sets an example of a holy life through the practice of love, it becomes a far more powerful means of restoring social solidarity and touching the hearts of others than mere argument or coercion. Faith, embodied by true love, allows one to discover their worth upon a divine foundation rather than through social achievements; this discovery inevitably leads to sharing with and dedicating oneself to one’s neighbors. This is the ultimate practical strategy for overcoming the isolation and alienation faced by modern society and for creating communal happiness.

The purification of the spirit, the certainty of faith, and the fulfillment through love—themes found in Thomas’s theology of faith—offer a steadfast and secure harbor to modern people exhausted by the cycle of endless competition. When faith is a commitment to the unseen, it becomes the "beginning of eternal life" within the individual’s inner self. Only when modern people abandon the shifting foundations of external achievements or the gaze of others and discover their true selves upon an inner, divine foundation can they break free from the cycle of endless competition and experience true freedom and happiness. As Thomas emphasized, a life that tastes the happiness of the future here and now through faith is the surest path to stepping out of the shadow of achievement-oriented culture and restoring one’s humanity.