  As we have seen while examining his natural philosophy, Cardano’s moral views assign a central role to the soul: “The soul is the most important thing we own; everything refers to it, for riches, honors, and health are nothing without a sound soul” (De utilitate, OO, II, 10a). Mental self-awareness, in particular, is the principal argument through which Cardano advocates the immortality of the soul, for a human being is the same thing as his mind (homo animus est) (De utilitate, OO, II, 12; on Cardano’s notion of the mind, see Giglioni 2005–2007; García Valverde 2013). The same emphasis on mental awareness can be found in Cardano’s moral investigations, for in his opinion human beings cannot understand what the ends of their actions are if they lack a clear knowledge of themselves (De utilitate, OO, II, 2). The highest good for them can only lie in those attributes and activities that are part of their minds (quae animo coniuncta sunt) (De utilitate, OO, II, 27a). In this sense, the relationship between tranquillity and awareness is biunique: human beings can be peaceful only when they know what the highest good is and know that they have attained it (Theonoston, OO, II, 303b). According to the Hermit’s definition of tranquillity in Theonoston, tranquillitas coincides with securitas, that is, a condition of unbreakable inner peace, free from cares and anxiety, and it is a level of wisdom that would even suit God. In this respect, true tranquillity for human beings coincides with their being “assimilated” to God, so that, when this condition of serenity is reached, nothing is any longer felt as lacking in meaning and substance. This level of happiness is a “kind of pleasure” that derives from the awareness of “being in the possession of goods” (Theonoston, OO, II, 302a; De optimo vitae genere, OO, I, 488b). Intellectual pleasure should never be a monstrum, that is to say, a hybrid creature resulting from combining the goods of reason with those of the body and external luck (Theonoston, OO, II, 313b–314a).