Hedonism is a philosophy that prioritizes pleasure and happiness while avoiding pain. Aristippus and Epicurus were influential in their development. There are various types, including motivational, normative, selfish, and selfless.
Utilitarianism is similar, seeking to create the greatest possible happiness for everyone. Modern hedonists aim to create pleasure by providing more personal freedoms.
Hedonism, aka sensuality or carnality, is a philosophical system which holds that people are motivated primarily by the production of pleasure and happiness and by the avoidance of pain.
A person chooses her actions based on how much pleasure and pain the actions are likely to cause. In the discussion of this philosophy, pleasure and pain have broad meanings.
The word originates in hēdonismos, the Greek word for “delight”. Pleasure and pain refer to all pleasant or unpleasant feelings, experiences, states, things, properties, and events.
There are several types of this system. Motivational hedonism states that only pleasure and pain motivate people to do or not do things.
On the other hand, normative hedonism claims that only joy and fun have value, while only pain and all types of pain have no value. Selfish hedonists believe that the individual’s happiness is paramount, while altruistic hedonists believe that the satisfaction of all people is most important.
Various philosophers, such as Plato, Aristotle, Austin, Bain, Spencer, Bentham, Moore, Sidgwick, Mill, Broad and Ross, contributed to this philosophy, but the most influential was Aristippus and Epicurus.
Hedonism originated with Aristippus of Cyrene, who believed that pleasure – which included physical pleasure, love, mental pleasure, moral happiness, and friendship – was the most important motivator for behaviour. Aristippus also believed that long-term pleasures were more valuable than short-term ones. He was followed by Epicurus, who thought that mental and social pleasures were more critical than physical pleasures.
Epicurus also believed that pain and self-control were valuable because they were sometimes necessary for health and provided even more pleasure through restraint.
Most modern hedonists seek to create pleasure, and they generally believe the best way to do this is to make people more equal by providing more personal freedoms.
Utilitarianism is a similar philosophy because it states that people should choose their actions based on what is best for all people. In other words, a person should try to cause the greatest happiness for as many people as possible.
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