Arrested Development and Philosophy_ They've Made a Huge Mistake - Kristopher G. Phillips [10]
The narcissist is in many ways the opposite of the sinner. When a narcissist reflects on himself he sees his good qualities to the point of admiring himself. This leads to a desire to be admired by others, and when that doesn’t happen, suffering ensues.18 This seems to be the type of unhappiness that Michael suffers from. Just think of how many times Michael looks for recognition—from his father, sister, brother, son, employees, or girlfriends—that he is a good person. Even when he behaves badly, he wants to be seen as doing the bad thing in as good a way as he can (when he steals his brother’s girlfriend or sleeps with his son’s teacher). If Michael spent less time obsessing over his virtue and more time taking pleasure in the things he does, he would be better off. In other words, if Michael were more like Gob, or if he actually took the “stupid pills” that George Sr. often accused him of taking, he would be happier.
The last category of unhappy people is the megalomaniac. Russell says these people want to be powerful and feared in the way that a narcissist wants to be well-liked. But unhappiness results when these people recognize the great difference between the power they feel they deserve and the little they actually have.19 A case might be made for Gob exemplifying this type of person, but we have a better Arrested example in George Sr.’s secretary and mistress Kitty (the whore). Secretaries outside of the academic setting are fairly powerless. Michael saw the position as so unimportant he allowed Tobias, Lindsay, and Starla (the model Gob gave a firm offer to) to do it. As a mistress, Kitty saw herself as more important to George Sr. than his wife, so she felt she was entitled to at least as much power as Lucille. Nobody else, including George Sr., saw things this way. Instead they saw her as crazy (she was). If Kitty just accepted her powerlessness like Buster (who is perfectly content to let others shepherd him around), she could find happiness.
Russell also thought that there are external circumstances that, regardless of self-knowledge, prevent a person from being happy. You need to have a reasonable income that allows for food, shelter, and health care before happiness is an option. Yet, even with these things, certain personal traumas can prevent any chance at happiness. Chief among these, according to Russell, are the death of a child and public disgrace. Russell would think George Sr. extraordinarily lucky that, after being arrested by the SEC, he was able to do (and have) the time of his life in prison.20 While these observations might seem obvious, it’s worth noting that Socrates didn’t even see it as a possibility that external circumstances could affect happiness; he thought self-knowledge was necessary and sufficient for happiness.
This isn’t to say that Russell thought there was no benefit to some reflection, or that we ought never to reflect (you should see all the stuff this guy wrote!). Rather, he thought that in moderation, reflection could lead to additional happiness. Russell, himself a “deliciously witty” man, put it this way, “Perhaps the simplest way to describe the difference between the two sorts of happiness is to say that one sort is open to any human being, and the other only to those who can read and write.”21 What he meant by this was that the more knowledge you have, the more you are able to understand and accomplish, and reaching your goals brings a type of happiness that is not available to those who don’t have any goals.
There are many opportunities for happiness, and some of those opportunities are not available to those who don’t reflect. Doing little tricks (illusions; tricks are what a whore does for money . . . or cocaine) can lead to happiness, but if that’s all you can do, you may not be as happy as people who can do more. Learning more about the world and about yourself increases the number of places you can find pleasure. George Michael, for example, derives pleasure from getting As in class, a pleasure not open to Maeby.
Russell’s