Dec 17, 2009

Utilitarianism vs Hedonism

"it is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied" - John Stuart Mill
Mill argues that simpler beings (he often refers to pigs) have an easier access to the simpler pleasures; since they do not see other aspects of life, they can simply indulge in their lower pleasures. The more elaborate beings tend to spend more thought on other matters and hence lessen the time for simple pleasure. It is therefore more difficult for them to indulge in such "simple pleasures" in the same manner

"There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it" - Ovid
The basic idea behind hedonistic thought is that pleasure is the only thing that is good for a person. This is often used as a justification for evaluating actions in terms of how much pleasure and how little pain (i.e. suffering) they produce. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize this net pleasure (pleasure minus pain).

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