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Recommended: A new hedonism analysis
In ancient Greece, many philosophers came up with lot's of great ideas and particular ways to think and go about your everyday life. More than just different ways of life, some of these great ideas that philosophers have been able to come up with are aimed to change a persons daily thought process to only seek happiness or pleasures on the journey of life. Hedonism derived from early Greek times and has evolved today in many different forms. A well practiced Hedonist has trained their mind to only seek only the upmost pleasure for the intrinsic good and to block out all pain that shall cause a person's suffering or discomfort in ones life. Some hedonist focus solely on just avoiding pain, while others main goal is to seek as much pleasure as one possibly can. Stoicism is a different idea in which was founded by Zeno of Citium in the 3rd century …show more content…
Cyrenaic Hedonism is said to be started by Aristippus, who grew up in northern Africa. The name comes from the city which he grew up in, Cyrene. Aristippus was very fond of Socrates and traveled to Athens in order to learn under him. Cyrenaic hedonists were not interested in the quality of pleasures, but only pleasure itself. They considered all pleasures to be equal and the only way to wrong themselves of pleasure is to lose self control. It wasn’t until Epicurus that the quality of pleasures were brought on as an importance; which eventually led him to create his own system in Epicureanism, which was a refined version of hedonism. Cynicism was a school founded by Antisthenes who was fascinated by the great Socrates. The Cynics opposed hedonism because they believed the way it wired an individual would make people soft. Cynics believed that Empicureans relied too much on their friends and certain "proper" pleasures while cynicism was fueled by sarcasm and individuals who were trained to think
Fred Feldman distinguishes two categories of hedonism: sensory hedonism and attitudinal hedonism. Both categories of hedonism center around the notion that pleasure is what makes a life worth living (for the person living that life). In other words, if one obtains (receives or acquires) pleasure from life, then one’s life is going well. Additionally, the more pleasure a life contains, the better the life (the more prudential value it contains). Feldman, however, promptly classifies two interpretations of pleasure: pleasure as feeling (sensory pleasure) and pleasure as an attitude (the attitude of enjoyment). And, it is the latter conception of pleasure (pleasure as an attitude/mental state) that Feldman is interested in.
claims that “the absence of pain in the body and of disturbance in the soul is a pleasure itself.”(uc davis/goals 1.30) Even though Cicero had a slightly different personal outlook on the definition of pleasure, he still gave reason to support Epicurus’ theory arguing “since when we are freed from pain we rejoice in this very liberation from and absence of annoyance, and since everything in which we rejoice is a pleasure then it is right to call the absence of all pain pleasure.”(uc davis/goals) Cicero and Epicurus’ theories may vary slightly, but they both hold the same core value, that pleasure is the ultimate good in life. However, Pleasure comes in many different forms. The type of pleasure that is advocated by Epicurus and Cicero is not that of vice and over-indulgence, but rather that which has no consequence and is pure of heart. For example, following the Epicurean philosophy, getting drunk, smoking, stealing and any other acts of lust or greed are not considered pleasurable due to fact that they all might have unfavorable repercussions. Temperance is a core value in the Epicurean society in order to achieve true pleasure, however if transitory intemperance is required to avoid greater pain, then it is accepted as a necessary evil.
The major difference between the two theories is that in Hedonism, everything you do must make you happy, including the journey. Hedonism may sound perfect, but it really limits what you can do. The Desire Satisfaction Theory, on the other hand, allows us to fully live life to the fullest. Desire Satisfaction allows one to endure pain and challenges, which ultimately allows for us to grow as people and fully enjoy life. Hedonism is restrictive, as it does not allow us to endure life’s tough challenges which allow us to gain experience and knowledge. Hedonism only allows us to do things that completely make us happy along every stage, because otherwise one would not be following hedonism. Desire Satisfaction Theory, allows for us to not be happy at some times in order for us to reach an ultimate goal. This allows us to fully grow as human beings in emotion and thought, as well as grow wiser as we mature in
The fundamental objective of Hedonistic Utilitarianism would be to maximize happiness while minimizing pain (Sober 416). Supported by philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, the theory of Utilitarianism has been criticized, reformed, and researched in order to view the different situations in which this theory may produce positive or negative outcomes. Although this moral theory, was established with positive intentions there have been ethical conflictions created by this theory. Such as the understanding that the hedonistic utilitarian moral theory maintains a very subjective motivation, destroys autonomy, and creates a false sense of self. One of those situational theories is the experience machine hypothesis. The experience machine hypothesis is a modern recreation of Descartes evil demon problem, which was used to identify the disadvantages of Hedonistic Utilitarianism. The experience machine hypothesis recognizes the value of authentic experiences, independence, and the appreciation for happiness, which is not accomplished through Hedonistic Utilitarianism s (Sober 414).
If you were given the opportunity to plan out your life in a way that would maximize the amount of pleasure in it, would you take it? This question is key to Robert Nozick’s thought experiment which attempts to show that humans are not hedonists. A hedonist is a person who lives and behaves in a way such that they can experience the most pleasure out of life as possible, according to the belief that the pursuit of pleasure it the most important thing in life. Nozick’s thought experiment attempts to refute hedonism through a hypothetical question involving what Nozick likes to call the “experience machine”. This imaginary machine would have the ability to simulate all sorts of experiences on a subject, from the greatest pleasures to the worst pains. The subject of the experiment would be given the ability to pre-program any series of experiences into the machine to fit their own desires or will. Once plugged into the machine, the subject would have no knowledge of their prior experiences and would believe the simulated experiences to be reality. Nozick’s question asks whether you would plug into the “experiment machine”. Nozick makes the claim that if we, humans, were hedonists we would plug into the machine. However, he makes
I think stoic philosophy is fairly reasonable and easy to identify with. It is a mistake to regard health, wealth, success, or any other temporary condition as a cause for happiness. Only virtue is good, and vice is evil. The individual who pursues virtue can become wise. Virtue is defined as the attainment of courage, justice, and moderation. These are the ingredients of a good life, and the only things that can provide true happiness. A morally weak individual is unhappy no matter what good fortune the world brings. Money, wealth, and success can create a temporary psychological condition called happiness, but they cannot create real happiness --- described as the good life well lived.
ABSTRACT: Aristotle argues that temperance is the mean concerned with pleasure and pain (NE 1107b5-9 and 1117b25-27). Most commentators focus on the moderation of pleasures and hardly discuss how this virtue relates to pain. In what follows, I consider the place of pain in Aristotle’s discussion of temperance and resolve contradictory interpretations by turning to the following question: is temperance ever properly painful? In part one, I examine the textual evidence and conclude that Aristotle would answer no to our question. The temperate person does not feel pain at the absence of appropriately desired objects. In parts two and three, I reconstruct some reasons why Aristotle would hold such a view based. My discussion here is based upon Aristotle’s discussion of continence and the unity of the virtues.
In fact, the concept of hedonism is basically the underlying principal that all humans seek pleasure over pain. Similarly, 11-year-old Erica in the third stanza “pops X to get rid of all her pain” while having unprotected sex with a boy who is older than she is (AZLyrics). Her mistakes demonstrate how individuals rather block out all negativity and hurtful situations from their mind. Seeking pleasure in this case however, caused Erica to get pregnant by someone who is not willing to take care of the baby. Although, the choices she made to try to achieve pleasure, in reality caused her
Hedonism is a word from Greek origin, which mean joy, delight and pleasure. According to the school of Hedonism pleasure is the only thing that is intrinsically good for people while pain is intrinsically bad. In other words humans are motivated by pleasure or pain only and pleasure has a worth whereas pain has disvalue. There are two types of pleasure, which are physical pleasure and attitudinal pleasure. Physical pleasures are those of pleasant feelings or sensations such as tasting a dessert, sitting in a hot tub, enjoying sex, falling in love and so on. On the other hand attitudinal pleasures of those connected with ta positive attitude of enjoyment such as a home team victory, a beautiful painting, buying a new car… According
Hedonism is a way of life that is rooted in a person’s experiences or states of consciousness that can be pleasant or unpleasant. The ethical egoist would state that a person should maximize his or her pleasant states of consciousness in order to lead the best life. Act Utilitarian on the other hand would state that these enjoyable states of consciousness should be maximized by one’s actions for everyone in order to attain the most utility. On the surface, this appears to be a good way to live, however, as Nozick states through his example of the experience machine that living life as a hedonist can be detrimental. It is a hollow existence that will ultimately be unsatisfactory because of the lack of making real decisions and relationships which are important to living a fulfilling life.
From pursuing pleasure to avoiding pain, life seems to ultimately be about achieving happiness. However, how to define and obtain happiness has and continues to be a widely debated issue. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle gives his view on happiness. Aristotle focuses particularly on how reason, our rational capacity, should help us recognize and pursue what will lead to happiness and the good life.';(Cooley and Powell, 459) He refers to the soul as a part of the human body and what its role is in pursuing true happiness and reaching a desirable end. Aristotle defines good'; as that which everything aims.(Aristotle, 459) Humans have an insatiable need to achieve goodness and eventual happiness. Sometimes the end that people aim for is the activity they perform, and other times the end is something we attempt to achieve by means of that activity. Aristotle claims that there must be some end since everything cannot be means to something else.(Aristotle, 460) In this case, there would be nothing we would try to ultimately achieve and everything would be pointless. An ultimate end exists so that what we aim to achieve is attainable. Some people believe that the highest end is material and obvious (when a person is sick they seek health, and a poor person searches for wealth).
Between the years of 341-270 B.C.E, a man who will go down in history as one of the greatest philosophers of ancient Greece was born and he goes by the name of Epicurus. There isn’t much known about him as a child but as he grew older he became most famous for trying to figure out the hardest puzzle on earth, what makes people happy? Epicurus knew for sure that people was constantly looking for happiness in the wrong place and certainly didn’t know the real definition of ‘happy’. Epicurus then decided to start a school to study happiness, crazy right? The school contained plenty of activities
Aristotle feels we have a rational capacity and the exercising of this capacity is the perfecting of our natures as human beings. For this reason, pleasure alone cannot establish human happiness, for pleasure is what animals seek and human beings have higher capacities than animals. The goal is to express our desires in ways that are appropriate to our natures as rational animals. Aristotle states that the most important factor in the effort to achieve happiness is to have a good moral character, what he calls complete virtue. In order to achieve the life of complete virtue, we need to make the right choices, and this involves keeping our eye on the future, on the ultimate result we want for our lives as a whole. We will not achieve happiness simply by enjoying the pleasures of the moment. We must live righteous and include behaviors in our life that help us do what is right and avoid what is wrong. It is not enough to think about doing the right thing, or even intend to do the right thing, we have to actually do it. Happiness can occupy the place of the chief good for which humanity should aim. To be an ultimate end, an act must be independent of any outside help in satisfying one’s needs and final, that which is always desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else and it must be
However, we can wonder if the pleasures that derive from necessary natural desires are what actually brings us happiness, since having a family, friends, a good job and doing fun things seem to bring the most joy in life. Plato’s ideas on life are even more radical, since he claims that we should completely take difference from our bodily needs. Therefore it seems that we should only do what is necessary for us to stay a life and solely focus on the mind. Although both ways of dealing with (bodily)pleasure are quite radical and almost impossible to achieve, it does questions if current perceptions of ‘living the good life’ actually leads to what we are trying to achieve, which is commonly described as
Aristippus was one of the first philosophers of ancient Greece to state that the focus of life is pleasure. He said that "The highest good is pleasure, the greatest evil is pain." (Gaarder, 132) Epicurus expanded his ideas around 300 BC, saying that the pleasurable results of an action must always be weighed against its possible side effects. He believed that momentary pleasure should be weighed against the possibility of greater, more lasting, or more intense pleasure in the future (Gaarder, 133). For example, rather than smoking cigarettes everyday for a year, you could save your money and health and instead take a trip ...