Telos of Charlie!

Aristotle thought that everything has a 'telos' or a purpose that it is meant to achieve. Telos, was in his mind essential to a harmonious universe. He believed that the telos of humans was to achieve happiness!

Artists are people who are in tune with their 'telos'! They do what they do simply because they have to! How often do we step into a wing of an art museum that makes no sense to us whatsoever? The telos of that wing is to shock you out of your complacence! To force thought where stagnation is rewarded, to introduce questions where traditional acceptance prevails! Its a hard, poor-paying profession with very little possibility of a secure retirement, yet artists do what they do simply because they have to! It’s their telos! 

The magazine Charlie Hebdo was aware of its telos! The cartoonists who worked there were aware of their 'telos'! Now most people live without knowing their telos, they therefore resort to 'formulating' one! 

 Aristotle was once approached by two Athenian citizens, for the sake of convenience we shall call them  Charlie and Deimos. Charlie was convinced that happiness in humans, meant being content with the sum total of your life while Deimos was convinced that human happiness could be achieved with just one event. So they went to Aristotle seeking an answer to what is real and perpetual and what is incidental and transient. Aristotle observed that most humans wanted what Charlie suggested as possible but since they got frustrated they decided to pursue the path suggested by Deimos. So he encouraged the two of them to argue:

Charlie: "Since the telos of mankind is to achieve happiness it is important to cultivate virtues that will lead to happiness!"

Deimos: "Since cultivating virtues is a long, elaborate and life-consuming task, why not pursue a vice that will provide instant happiness!"

Charlie: "Well the practice of vice has its end goal as happiness but the pursuit of virtue is happiness itself. You can become a terrorist, kill people and then be happy or you can pursue compassion and understanding which makes you happy even in its pursuit. "

Deimos already tired of arguing, pulls out a gun, shoots Charlie and kills him. The guards around Aristotle surround Deimos and start piercing him with their swords. 

Aristotle steps beside the dying Deimos and asks him, "Did killing Charlie make you happy?" to which Deimos replies, with a yes! 

"How did it feel?" asks Aristotle, Deimos in his dying voice says, "It felt satisfying, it felt real, it felt strengthening and wonderful!"

Aristotle then asks Deimos, "Did you feel that way all of your life?" and Deimos responds, "No, I just felt that at the moment I killed Charlie!"

Aristotle says, "That's sad! Because Charlie felt that real, satisfying, wonderful strength all of his life, until the moment he was killed."

Deimos reflects on the telos of his life. He realizes that his telos was 'formulated' while that of Charlie was 'real'. 

As Deimos dies, Aristotle whispers in his ears, "Je Suis Charlie!"