Paradox of hedonism

Utilitarianism is a moral theory in which a “good action” takes into account the greatest overall happiness for the greatest number of people. The most essential feature of utilitarianism is that it is “a goal-oriented moral theory because it places all of its emphasis on the actual consequences of moral rules and principles, and insists that they be justified only by appeal to how happy they make us”. To further explain, utilitarianism justifies the actions and decisions made by focusing on the…

Utilitarianism and the Ethics of Care are differ greatly in their origins which dramatically affected how the systems deal with moral problems facing society; this is especially true with the Ethics of Care as it is considerably more “modern” when compared to the more traditional system of Utilitarianism. This traditional and duty driven system of producing the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people versus the compassion and empathy fueled understanding is the center of how ethics…

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that treats all interests as equal and is based of the “Greatest happiness principle.” The greatest happiness principle basically says if everyone thinks it’s for the best and satisfies the most people, it has to be the right option. It aims for “the greatest good for the greatest number.” Founded by Jeremy Bentham, it targets the most happiness in everyone, which sounds like a pretty good option when you first look at it. Utilitarianism is a form of…

To me, the obvious choice is that of the musical composer, Hayden. I would choose Hayden’s life over the oyster’s life because I agree with Mill’s theory of qualitative hedonism. I believe that not all pleasurable things in life should be viewed and measured the same. One of the great things about human life is that we are able to experience higher pleasures such as reading great works of literature, playing/listening to…

The yellow book became as a guidance of hedonism for Dorian Gray. It represented the profound and damaging influence that pleasure can have on the essence of an individual and serves as a warning to those who cease to surrender themselves to pleasures: “Dorian Gray had been poisoned by a book.…

The ideology of hedonism implies that the only true intrinsic value that exists for man is the mental state of pleasure. Everything else can only contain extrinsic value which can influence our intrinsic value. For example, eating an ice cream cone has an extrinsic value…

In the dialogue, Utopia, written by Sir Thomas Moore, there are multiple aspects to Utopian society that may strike out in some form or fashion to the reader, whether those aspects may be simply odd, interesting or even appalling. However, if I had to pick out one aspect of More’s Utopian society that stuck out to me in an interesting fashion, it would be the Utopians’ definition of what pleasure truly means in their society, and, I have various reasons to think so in that regard. First of all,…

Response to “When Life Asks For Everything” In the feature article “When Life Asks For Everything”, David Brooks explains the four different types of happiness. The four different levels of happiness explain the true delight behind each level. The first level of happiness is considered the lowest level of happiness. This level of happiness is joy that comes from materials. This happiness really does not make ones heart joyful I feel as if it is a cover to real happiness. This material…

Today we routinely differentiate between hedonism as a theory of the good and utilitarianism as a consequentialist theory of the right. Mill, however, considered both doctrines to be so closely intertwined that he used the term ‘utilitarianism’ to signify both theories. On the one hand, he says…

Pleasure is defined as having a good state of mind. Pleasure can also be seen as not feeling or not being in a horrible state. Epicurus believes that pleasure is essential to a happy life, he perceives it as the ultimate goal. Throughout his texts he elaborates on the types of pleasure, static and kinetic, and how the mind and body perceive pleasure. Desire satisfaction is defined as people getting what they want; they see it as their lives going well. Epicurus states that your life goes well…