Why should we be happy?

Why should we want to be happy? Because Aristotle tells us it’s the best thing? And how does he work that out? Big doses of rationality with little appreciation of the reality of life. It is Socrates who shows us what should be our aim — and that only as a side issue — a good place to lie on the grass. And the beautiful grassy bank may be surrounded by tarmac. It is not an ideal world after all — though some would wish it so. It is not an ideal life — though some would wish it was. There is tarmac. We cannot create something which is not. We cannot truly inhabit the product of Aristotle’s rational mind. It is a unicorn, and we cannot ride unicorns, nor pet them, nor admire them. I think we should look for the grassy bank. It may be right in the middle of a car park!