Monday, October 02, 2006

Schools Of Hedonism - Part 3: What Kind Of Pleasure?

One of the most disputed aspects of Hedonism is whether the human's goal is pleasure or happiness... Pleasure is usually attributed to intense physical sensations like sex, gluttony, or euphoria. Happiness is usually attributed to the feel good state of the mind like tranquility, content, satisfaction, or the company of friends.

Some people argue that simple beings like pigs have easier access to simple pleasures as they are ignorant to higher forms of life dilemmas, and thus can indulge in their pleasures without spoiling that pleasure by other worries. Similar lines of thought recognize simple (rural?) life as being more fulfilling.

One of the Greek old-school Hedonists, Epicurus, (among others) claimed that the highest pleasure consists of a simple, moderate life spent with friends and in philosophical discussions. I might add that: This blog recognizes this form of pleasure, and it is one of its goal to create a favorable space for that. [An alternative pimp house if you may call it!] - Hope it has been able to deliver that...

Some schools of thought advocate that it is unwise to indulge deeply into some pleasures as it might induce counter-intuitive side-effect. In particular, they advocate that a person should not indulge in pleasures that belittle other pleasures; For example, extreme sexual fetches might cause a person to lose interest in the milder forms of sexual pleasures and lead to dissatisfaction in the general sense of human experiences. I might add that I generally oppose the view that indulging in one pleasure diminishes the enjoyment of later pleasures.

On a final note, some schools challenge the view that pain as an opposite of pleasure. Generally, masochistic fetishes provide the biggest challenge to the "minimize pain" part of the definition. It is obvious that pleasure-through-pain proves that pain is not the opposite of pleasure. For this reason, I prefer to amend the second part of the definition to: "maximize pleasant experiences and minimize unpleasant ones"; where pleasant experiences include all types of pleasure, including: happiness, sensual pleasure, and even pain when applicable.

In this series:
Schools Of Hedonism - Part 1: Introduction
Schools Of Hedonism - Part 2: Methods Of Evaluation
Schools Of Hedonism - Part 3: What Kind Of Pleasure?
Schools Of Hedonism - Part 4: Egoism VS Utilitarianism

5 comments:

Tala said...

I dont know if you would go for it, but you have been tagged too!=D
http://published-tala.blogspot.com/2006/10/my-bag.html#links

Devil's Mind said...

I think I'll pass on this one; Seriously, this tag is a stupid one that doesnt deserve to have survived all this time :S, besides its more directed at girls and it would be gay of me to answer it, but if anyone had to know I don't carry any wallet or bag when I go out to start with! :D

Tala said...

NO. its not directed at girls, and its not gay. actually it shows how much prepared you are! actually, when you see all your stuff piled up,its says your name.. hehehe
it is stupid. but why not?!
ba3dain you go to irbid without a wallet, wein bit7o6 il frata?!
you keep your notebook at the locker?! or you record the class?
what about your phone, your keys?
Zeid.. its all in one round puffy thing. BAG.

Devil's Mind said...

Hehe, you couldnt take a joke about a tag :P, Anyways, the way you talk about the bag reminds of a "friends" episode where Joey buys a stylish gay bag!

Phone, keys, money all go into the pocket of my pants... BTW, i never carry any form of ID (I believe a person need not identify themselves in a free country)...

And yes, to university i do take a pen, notebook, and (during exams) a calculator in a schoolbag... But thats about it, I dont carry my bag except for university! (this should be suffice answer to the tag I guess)

Finally, I bet someone can think of better things that "say my name" :D - I would really appreciate a really well-thought tag, maybe you can make-up a quality one :) - Seriously!

Tala said...

a well thought tag that can speak more of oneself. i need to think?!

BUT whatever i tag you with next time, no matter how silly, stupid or gay you will have to answer it. it is a special request afterall.
and since i dont have people to reply my blog, and i tag you its your responsability to spread it aroung the blogsphere. you are getting yourself into trouble