Paradox of hedonism

Two main characters share similar traits from respective pieces of literature, one is a quasi-ruler of an African hamlet and the other is a soldier fighting deadly robots. In Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe, Ezeulu is the chief priest of multiple villages in Africa that is slowly being colonized by the British in the early Twentieth Century. Second Variety by Phillip K. Dick is a short science fiction story set in an apocalyptic future about a military officer named Major Joseph Hendricks, who…

In class we discussed whether or not it is a bad thing to die, if we are not immortal. This discussion was based on Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things, we Lucretius would debate that it is indeed not a bad thing to die. One half of the class argued that he is correct, and the other half argued that he was incorrect.In this discussion there were two rounds, the first one allowed both teams to state points for their argument, and then the second allowed each team to rebuttal against the opposing…

Voice 1: Hey, other disembodied voice within the void of physical non-existance? Voice 2: Yes, other voice with in the void? Voice 1: Lets have a chat. Voice 2: All right. But if we’re in a Buddhist state of non-existance how could we have this conversation in the first place? Voice 1: Ah, but that is a question for another time. I want to ask: do you think that a person must have good will in able to do the right thing? Voice 2: I see that you are still pondering about silly mortal questions.…

In John Stuart Mill’s book Utilitarianism, he explores what exactly it means to reach an end and how that end results in pleasure. Mill explains the importance and advantages of utilitarianism while also responding to misunderstandings about it. He believes in the greatest happiness principle and that if a society benefits from the impairment or disappointment of another because of a lack in obtaining a higher faculty, then this is okay because it is hedonic, in that it maximizes pleasure. Mill…

of mental stimulation. Which in simple terms means anything feels better than nothing at all. Hume mentions that if the distressing stimulation were real life as opposed to fictional it would not be received as pleasure, so Dubos' solution to the paradox of tragedy fails. Hume then mentions another idea by French author Fontenelle. Fontenelle’s solutions consists of the idea that pleasure and pain come from the same source, tickling as an example when pushed is first onset as pleasure but if…

According to Sigmund Freud, the purpose of life is to find happiness and avoid suffering. He claims that civilization is “the achievements and the regulations which distinguish our lives from those of our animal ancestors.” Through his analysis of people, he came to the conclusion that civilization is counter-productive to the ultimate goal of pleasure. We will attempt to determine how Euripides believes civilization relates to individuality through a Freudian analysis of The Bacchae. To do this…

In Voltaire's Candide, two opposite characters are introduced to readers, Pangloss and Martin, the first demonstrating an optimistic perception on life, however the second represents a pessimistic perception on it. Both of these characters represents a diverse point of view of thought, applies his own ideas and beliefs to the world, and tries to persuade Candide of his own angle that he sees life from. This essay will compare and contrast both of the perceptions and how Candide reacts to both of…

pleasure and is free of pain (Shafer-Landau, FE p22).” Pleasure here is not physical pleasure rather attitudinal pleasure. Attitudinal pleasure is the positive attitude of enjoyment. Happiness, according to hedonism, is worth pursuing for its own sake (Shafer-Landau, FE p23). An attraction of hedonism is it offers flexibility. There is more than one way to live a good life. Philosophers can live a good life by designing arguments if that’s what makes them happy. Accountants can live a good life…

Utilitarianism is the theory that the right decision is that which produces the greatest amount of good, everyone considered. The strengths of this theory is that we are not simply considered our own selfish wants, but the good of all people. The struggle we often have with this concept is that utilitarianists are forced to make decisions where there is often a lot of collateral damage. That begs the question as to whether the good created is greater than the loss. The Tuskegee experiments are a…

According to hedonism, a life is good to the extent that it is filled with happiness (pleasure) and bad to the extent it is filled with unhappiness (pain). It is important to note that hedonists are not referring to physical pleasure as the key to the good life, rather, they are referring to it as enjoyment (attitudinal pleasure). Another way to interpret this is by saying that a good life is having many pleasurable experiences and nothing else. A hedonist might say that if you enjoy doing…