In Defense of Moderate Inebriation

To live well we have to believe we can overcome obstacles that seem insurmountable. We must believe problems have a solution, our companions are beneficent, love is forever, the past is over, and tomorrow is a new day. These beliefs are often false but it is important that we believe them anyway.

There are many ways of reinforcing such beliefs but one tried and true way, common throughout millennia, is through intoxication.

No doubt over indulgence in alcohol can be disastrous but life without alcohol (or some other intoxicant) would be unbearable. Of course the neo-prohibitionists will put on their rationalist hats and proclaim there are better ways of dealing with adversity. Indeed there are. But there is no evidence the bulk of humanity are inclined to take them up. (Rationalists always make the mistake of thinking everyone is “rational” like them. Self awareness is not their strong suit.)

Drink when pursued properly helps us see the world as gracious.

Thankfully a mild buzz of the sort one acquires with wine at dinner, at a tasting, or sharing a special bottle with friends is sufficient to witness that grace. Truth be told when alcohol becomes a problem it is because that gentle modification of one’s outlook was not the goal, and it is likely wine was not the drink.

Those who take wine seriously, pay full attention to the aromas and movement in the mouth, or who use wine to spur quality conversation are seldom riotous drunkards. (There are of course exceptions and some people are obnoxious with or without drink)

The neo-prohibitionists now have a new topic with which to brow-beat wine lovers. The question of the impact of wine on health is a perennial topic of debate. For many years health experts claimed moderate wine consumption was on balance good for one’s health. Expert opinion seems to have shifted recently as more rigorous studies are completed.

But one thing these discussions of health seldom discuss is the role of moderate drinking on psychological health. Moderate drinking is one of those small pleasures that can improve one’s life everyday. And small pleasures are not to be denigrated. It’s fine to seek peak experiences, and sometimes wine is one of them. But if the valleys are too deep or the peaks too far apart life is drudgery, and drudgery is far more dangerous to psychological health than a bottle of wine shared with friends is to one’s physical health.

And while we’re on the topic of psychology, the ancient Greeks believed wine stimulated good thinking. In Plato’s dialogue The Symposium, wine fueled the dialectical pursuit of beauty. The Greeks were right about wine’s positive impact on thought. Thoughts that follow logical patterns can be easily communicated and more readily accessed for their truth value. But good thinking needs imagination too if it is to escape the assumption that reality exists as discrete modules that fit easily into well worn patterns of thought. Reality is not so easily conquered by pure logic. And wine because it allows the imagination to wander brings us closer to the flux and flow of a world that never settles into fully intelligible patterns. Thinking about what might be the case is as important as knowing what is the case.

Of all the things we might pursue in our search for happiness, the most important might be to cultivate the full exercise of our capacities. To think well, be healthy and physically adept, to love and be a good partner or companion, to earn a living at something that matters, to act and be treated with dignity—all contribute to happiness. To use our senses well, including the sense of taste, is also a basic human capacity and we get enormous pleasure from doing so.

Wine may not be necessary for a good life but it makes a powerful contribution to one.

Salute chin chin! A Votre Santé! Prost! Cheers!