Over and over again in The Swerve Professor Greenblatt uses the phrase “pursuit of happiness” or its synonyms. The same phrase, of course, appears in the American Declaration of Independence, a document that does not make the undersigned happy. Epicurus (and Professor Greenblatt) argue for a life devoted to the p.o.h. The West “swerved” in that direction--and away from swine Christianity--in the Renaissance, according to Greenblatt. Certainly that is true; the Church began to lose its hold on European civil life at the beginning of the Renaissance. And vive la swerve.

Is the “pursuit of happiness” all that?  Eh, ooh, squirm. I have no quarrel with “of.”  Pursue: 1. to follow in order to overtake, capture, kill or defeat. :o  2. to find or employ measures to obtain or accomplish. Whew, praise be to Epicurus for #2. Very goal-directed. What of e.g. Zen Buddhism, though?  Say “Ohm,” (repeat) “Ohm,” and you will feel p-e-a-c-e. Ohm.  Not goal-directed. Don’t other philosophies, spiritual systems teach similar things?  Western thought is linear; the p.o.h. is linear: There is happiness; Go get it! Other thought has it that the more you pursue a goal the less likely you are to obtain (or overtake, capture, kill, or defeat) it. Others, Confucianism, counsel acceptance. Acceptance leads to contentment. Contentment and p-e-a-c-e are not happiness though, right?  Happiness: 1. a state of well-being and contentment.  Well I’ll be darned. 2. a pleasurable or satisfying experience. Number 2 is the meaning I have had in mind when I have been discontented with America the “Orgasmatron” society. But who amongst us can gainsay #1, “a state of well-being and contentment?”  Can you pursue contentment, though?  That’s just repeating the Zen approach. Should you?  Should our lives be devoted to finding or employing measures to obtain or accomplish contentment?  Self-centered?  Yeah, well what else should we center on?  Others?  Become other-centered? No orgasms (for us), no implants. Not much fun. Ohm.