“Pleasure is the beginning and end of a happy life,” said the Greek thinker. He was not the first or the only one to focus on pleasure, but he was one of those who introduced something more than bodily and egoistic pleasure into the concept - although the following centuries have connoted him with the more immoral idea of hedonism.
One of the unavoidable names of this branch of hedonism that is more balanced pleasure and pain-wise, that is, that pleasure can arise from something as simple as the absence of pain (physical and moral) is that of Epicurus (341 BC - 271 or 270 BC), a philosopher who founded a school on the importance of pleasure as a key element of happiness.
#Hedonistic definition in english free#
On the other hand, some versions of hedonism make use of a broader concept of pleasure, that is, they identify it with 'happiness' in a sense that does not necessarily imply a positive state of pleasure of the body, but implies, for example, the lead a life, as much as possible, free from evils and filled with the achievement of ends considered good”, he explains. So hedonism is not debauchery? “Hedonism may well be the defense of the debauchery with which it is generally connoted - either negatively or positively.
Furthermore, the second is not necessarily the doctrine that every individual should seek his pleasure it can be, for example, the doctrine according to which each individual has a duty to seek to generate the maximum amount of pleasure for the maximum number of individuals (which is 'classical utilitarianism')”, an aspect that places pleasure not at the core of the ego, but as an altruistic concept. It is possible to advocate for the second doctrine (in either of its versions, morality or prudence) without advocating the first, but it is common for the defense of the second to be based on the first.
Though he tried, per our request: “On the one hand, hedonism is the doctrine that all human action is motivated by a pursuit of pleasure and an avoidance of pain (and this is often called 'psychological hedonism') on the other hand, it is the doctrine according to which it is necessary, or else according to which it is advantageous, to always seek pleasure and avoid pain (and this is 'ethical hedonism'). “Hedonism is generally spoken of in two different but related senses”, contextualizes João, a contact with such a framework in Philosophy (by the way, he teaches in the area) who was willing to shed some light on a topic too vast to summarize. And it is in this very minimal point, centered on the two opposing concepts, that both its controversy and its praise and philosophical interest reside. Hedonistic theories identify pleasure and pain as the only important elements in the phenomena they describe, presenting some nuances depending on the thinker of or with whom one speaks. Philosophical hedonists tend to focus on hedonistic theories of value and especially well-being, thus claiming that all and only pleasure is intrinsically valuable and all and only pain is intrinsically worthless, within a definition of concepts usually broaden, so that both bodily and mental phenomena are considered here. The term derives from the Greek word hēdonē (pleasure or will), referring to various theories about what makes us feel good, how we should behave and what motivates us to behave in a certain way. Broadly speaking, hedonism describes the pursuit of pleasure while seeking to alleviate pain. Apparently, hedonism, that word that puts pleasure at its core, has gained a bad reputation in its most popular sense, but the search for pleasure, as stated by various currents of Philosophy and even Psychology, does not necessarily have to be a selfish mission and can, at various levels and within the right dosage, contribute to the maintenance of physical and mental health. Hedonism got its most common definition as a kind of collection of indecent and shameless practices, ruled by excess and marginality, but to understand it (a Herculean task) is to perceive its balance and its dosed virtue. I know what this might look like: a libertine thirsty for excess, sinfully yielding to the indulgences of the body and debauchery and the delights and vices of life to such an extreme that it leads to ruin, in a portrait of immorality that seems to be the quintessential hedonist. We can save the “Hiiiiiii, Sara!” to later on. Hello, my name is Sara and I suspect I'm a hedonist. A healthy mind in a healthy body, the phrase that sums up well-being, is also linked to the pursuit of pleasure? And where pleasure is concerned, to what extent is it the path to (un)happiness?
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