Paradox of hedonism - Citizendia

The paradox of hedonism, also called the pleasure paradox, is the idea in the study of ethics which points out that pleasure and happiness are strange phenomena that do not obey normal principles. Hedonism is the Philosophy that Pleasure is of ultimate importance, the most important pursuit Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Pleasure is commonly conceptualized as a positive experience Happiness, Entertainment, Enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria, but is hard Happiness is an Emotion associated with feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to Bliss and intense Joy. First explicitly noted by the philosopher Henry Sidgwick in The Methods of Ethics, the paradox of hedonism points out that pleasure cannot be acquired directly, it can only be acquired indirectly. Henry Sidgwick ( May 31, 1838 – August 28, 1900) was an English Utilitarian Philosopher.

1 Example
2 Possible explanations
3 See also
4 Further reading

Example

Suppose John likes to collect stamps. According to most models of behavior, including not only utilitarianism, but most economic, psychological and social conceptions of behavior, it is believed that John likes collecting stamps because he gets pleasure from collecting stamps. Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall Utility, that is its contribution to happiness Stamp collecting is an avenue towards acquiring pleasure. However, if you tell John this, he will likely disagree. He does get pleasure from collecting stamps, but this is not the process that explains why he collects stamps. It is not as though he says, “I must collect stamps so I can obtain pleasure”. Collecting stamps is not just a means toward pleasure. He likes collecting stamps.

This paradox is often spun around backwards, to illustrate that pleasure and happiness cannot be reverse-engineered. If for example you heard that collecting stamps was very pleasurable, and began a stamp collection as a means towards this happiness, it would inevitably be in vain. To achieve happiness, you must not seek happiness directly, you must strangely motivate yourself towards things unrelated to happiness, like the collection of stamps.

We fail to attain pleasures if we deliberately seek them. Among other thinkers, John Stuart Mill, a Utilitarian philosopher, noted this sentiment in his autobiography:

"But I now thought that this end [one's happiness] was only to be attained by not making it the direct end. John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 &ndash 8 May 1873 British Philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall Utility, that is its contribution to happiness Those only are happy (I thought) who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness[. . . . ] Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness along the way[. . . . ] Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so. " (p. 94)

Viktor Frankl wrote in Man's Search for Meaning:

Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Viktor Emil Frankl MD, PhD, ( March 26, 1905 - September 2, 1997) was an Austrian neurologist Viktor Frankl 's 1946 book Man's Search for Meaning chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate and describes his psychotherapeutic method

Possible explanations

Happiness is often wrongly equated with pleasure, though sometimes the identification of the two concepts has been questioned. Pleasure is commonly conceptualized as a positive experience Happiness, Entertainment, Enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria, but is hard If, whether for good or bad reasons, one does equate happiness with pleasure, then the paradox of hedonism arises. When one aims solely towards pleasure itself, one's aim is frustrated. Sidgwick comments on such frustration after a discussion of self-love in the above-mentioned work:

"I should not, however, infer from this that the pursuit of pleasure is necessarily self-defeating and futile; but merely that the principle of Egoistic Hedonism, when applied with a due knowledge of the laws of human nature, is practically self-limiting; i. e. , that a rational method of attaining the end at which it aims requires that we should to some extent put it out of sight and not directly aim at it. " (p. 3)

Aristotle might possibly have also noted the paradoxical side of pursuing pleasure, though not, at any rate, as clearly as Sidgwick. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Human beings are actors whose endeavors bring about consequences, and among these are pleasure. Aristotle then argues as follows:

"How, then, is it that no one is continuously pleased? Is it that we grow weary? Certainly all human things are incapable of continuous activity. Therefore pleasure also is not continuous; for it accompanies activity. " (p. 1099)

Here Aristotle might be interpreted as noting how eventually the spirit is willing [to pursue pleasure], but the flesh is weak [in obtaining pleasure]. Perhaps this is at the root of what causes the paradox to arise. Sooner or later, finite beings will be unable to acquire and expend the resources necessary to maintain their sole goal of pleasure; thus, they find themselves in the company of misery. On the other hand, David Pearce argues in his treatise The Hedonistic Imperative that humans might be able to use genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and neuroscience to eliminate suffering in all sentient life. There have been several notable people named David Pearce, including David Pearce (boxer (1959–2000 former British heavyweight boxing champion Abolitionism is a Bioethical school and movement which proposes the use of Biotechnology to maximize Happiness and minimize Suffering while Genetic engineering, Recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification/manipulation (GM and gene splicing are terms that apply to the direct Nanotechnology, sometimes shortened to nanotech, refers to a field of Applied science whose theme is the control of matter on an Atomic and Molecular Neuroscience is a field devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system Sentience is the ability to feel or perceive subjectively. It is an important concept in the philosophy of Animal rights, in buddhist philosophy and in

Contents

Example

Possible explanations

See also

Further reading