2. DEFINITION
• The belief that pleasure is the most
important thing in life
• The name derives from the Greek word for
"delight"
• hēdonē "pleasure"+ ism = HEDONISM
3. characteristics
believes pleasure should play a central role in
life
likes tattoos, likes strip clubs,
prone to substance abuse, prone to shoplifting,
thinks marijuana should be legalized,
Gay marriage celebrated
not opposed to breaking laws,
promiscuous,
prone to cheat in relationships, kinky,
4. likes to dress provocatively,
willing to break the law if the monetary benefit is
great enough,
can be crude,
believes religion is foolish,
does not worry about consequences of actions,
addictive tendencies,
more a night person than a day person,
characteristics
5. erotic,
more likely to have been on anti-
depressants,
gets attention through negative behavior,
reckless with money,
prone to nihilism,
unpredictable, self destructive
characteristics
7. (b) Normative Hedonism
• is the claim that all and only pleasure has worth
or value, and all and only pain has disvalue.
• Jeremy Bentham endorsed both sorts of
hedonism in his An Introduction to the
Principles of Morals and Legislation:
“Nature has placed mankind under the
governance of two sovereign masters,
pain, and pleasure. It is for them alone to
point out what we ought to do, as well as
to determine what we shall do” (Bentham
1789)
8. Normative Hedonism
Pleasure Pain
understood broadly,
to include all
pleasant feeling or
experience, such as
elation, ecstacy,
delight, joy, and
enjoyment.
include all unpleasant
feeling or experience:
aches, throbs,
irritations, anxiety,
anguish, chagrin,
discomfort, despair,
grief, depression, guilt
and remorse
9. 2.Ethical hedonism
• is the view that our fundamental moral obligation is to
maximize pleasure or happiness.
• Ethical hedonism is most associated with the ancient
Greek philosopher Epicurus who taught that our life's
goal should be to minimize pain and maximize pleasure.
In fact, all of our actions should have that aim:
• In A Letter to Menoeceus -Epicurus explains how we can
reduce the psychological anguish that results from
fearing the gods and fearing death.
• Concerning the nature of pleasure, Epicurus explains
that at least some pleasures are rooted in natural and,
as a rule, every pain is bad and should be avoided, and
every pleasure is good and should be preferred.
10. History & Development
1. Sumerian civilization
• In the original Old Babylonian version of the Epic of
Gilgamesh, Siduri gave the following advice
"Fill your belly. Day and night make
merry. Let days be full of joy. Dance and
make music day and night [...] These
things alone are the concern of men",
• represent the first recorded advocacy of a hedonistic
philosophy.
11. Ancient Egyptian Civilisation
• Harper's Songs
• Scenes of a harper entertaining guests at a feast
was common in ancient Egyptian tombs and
sometimes contained hedonistic elements,
calling guests to submit to pleasure because
they cannot be sure that they will be rewarded
for good with a blissful afterlife.
12. Cārvāka
• was an Indian hedonist school of thought that
arose approximately 600 BCE, and died out in
the 14th century CE.
• The Cārvākas maintained that the Hindu
scriptures are false, that the priests are liars, and
that there is no afterlife, and that pleasure
should be the aim of living.
• Unlike other Indian schools of philosophy, the
Cārvākas argued that there is nothing wrong
with sensual indulgence.
• They held a naturalistic worldview.
13. Islamic Perspective
Whosoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We
give him increase in his reward, and whosoever
desires the reward of this world, We give him thereof,
and he has no portion in the Hereafter ( As –Syuraa
:20)
O my people, this worldly life is only [temporary]
enjoyment, and indeed, the Hereafter - that is the home
of [permanent] settlement. (Surat Ghāfir : 39)
“Are you pleased with the life of this world rather than
the hereafter. But little is the enjoyment of the life of
this world as compared to the hereafter.” (At-
