Paradox of hedonism

In Chapter II of Utilitarianism Mill raises a variety of objections to the moral theory of utility or the Greatest Happiness Principle. In Mill’s observation people misinterpret utilitarianism as an oppression to pleasure. In reality, a utility is known as pleasure itself. The principle of utilitarianism holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness. In this principle happiness are the intended pleasure and the absence of pain. Pleasure and the absence of pain in…

Response Paper 1 The ethical theory of utilitarianism argues that an act is only morally right if its consequences result in at least as much pleasure or wellbeing as the consequences of every alternative act. This theory was introduced by Jeremy Bentham and later further developed by John Stuart Mill. This paper will discuss Mill’s thoughts on utilitarianism and how its application can result in new moral dilemmas. John Stuart Mill begins chapter three by pondering what exactly it is that…

When describing the presence of pleasure and pain in a blessed life Epicurus writes that “we are in need of pleasure only when we are in pain because of the absence of pleasure, and when we are not in pain, then we no longer need pleasure” (Epicurus Letter to Menoeceus). This quote written by Epicurus in Letter to Menoeceus describes the ability of pleasure to remove pain, however from this quote alone one could misunderstand the nature of the pleasure Epicurus suggests seeking. The pleasure one…

Utilitarian Consequentialism basically surrounds itself based off the idea that an action can be evaluated in terms of pleasure and pain in causes. With Utilitarian it attempts to weigh out the options, in which they will arrive at a moral decision and the decision will be that will cause the least amount of pain possible but will have the happiest outcome in the end of it all. The utilitarian consequentialist viewpoint on human water is arguable to be valid because to be able to allow human…

Utilitarianism The utilitarianism is a great moral theory that can be applied to solve moral issues such by interrogating a terrorist and violating their human rights. We can take as an example the use of torture such as sleep deprivation in the interrogation to a terrorist or some war prisoner, in utilitarianism that action is being justified because it can help to save a lot of people for a future attack from an enemy, or to help to get in jail more terrorists that are involved in the…

Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is the idea that the goal of society should be to bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. So, actions are judged depending on whether they produce pleasure or pain, and what effect they have on society well-being and happiness. Utilitarianism gained a lot in prominence and popularity due in part to the work of Jeremy Bentham, who was born in 1748 and a student of law published his primary work named Introduction to the principles of…

Nozick’s experience machine is a counterexample to the theory of hedonism. It has persuaded many that there is more to prudential value than the actual feeling of experiences. So what is the experience machine argument? If life contains the upmost amount of pleasure and minimal amount of pain as possible, there is no way to make that life better. It is the hedonic quality of experience that matters for considering the well-being of a persons life. The basic point is that the machine makes the…

This paper looks to discuss Nozick’s experience machine. The paper begins by reconstructing Nozick’s experiment, and explains its consequences. The paper then argues that the experiment is actually consistent with hedonism, as by expanding on the definition of pleasure we see that by not plugging in we are actually doing the more pleasurable act. Nozick experiment asks us to imagine a machine that once connected to allows for us to experience the greatest possible pleasures. The machine then…

P1. If pleasure is what we value most and we will experience more pleasure by doing x rather than doing y, then we should do x over y P2. We will experience more pleasure by plugging into the Experience Machine than not plugging into the Experience Machine C1: If all that matters to us is maximising pleasure then we should want to plug into the experience machine. (P1&P2) P3. We have reason to not want to plug into the Experience Machine C2. Therefore, experiencing as much pleasure as possible…

Discuss any objections to hedonism of which you are aware of and explain whether there is an alternative theory of well being that is preferable to hedonism. Within the following essay I will discuss objections to hedonism and I will further explain whether there is an alternative theory of well being that is preferable to hedonism. Firstly we have to identify what hedonism is, hedonism has been typically expressed by certain quotes as “Pleasure is the only thing worth seeking for its own sake”…