Hedonism Definition Essay

Hedonism as a doctrine defines the strong in terms of delight and distract, and is the cosmeaview that holds to the doctrine that pastime is the greatest good. Now, who wouldnt define pastime as good? Arent we ein truth by this definition Hedonists? Here is where those triplet little letters, i-s-m make their impact. As we gather in learned, the suffix -ism transforms a word into a title for an entire life and world view. Hedonism indicates a system of rules of thought, a lense through which to view the universe in which the summum bonum, the highest good of man and the net social occasion of his being is found in the purpose of pleasure and the avoidance of disorder. So what is desire-after(a) for under this system, constantly and continuously is the increment of pleasure and the decrease of hurt. The roots of Hedonism give the axe be traced back to the fifth blow BC to the ancient Greek instructdays of the Cyrenaics. The Cyrenaics were named after their native city of Cyrene in North Africa.Their focus on the pleasure of the moment as the supreme good reflected a general skepticism only(prenominal) immediate sensations can be go throughn. look up with the past or the future causes uncertainty and anxiety, and should therefore be avoided. Gross repletion and reckless abandon in informal practice and the use of alcohol be associated with this circumstance philosophical principal. Greek religious idolatry to the god Dionysius and later Roman celebrations of the Bacchanalia, sexy festivals honoring Bacchus, the god of wine atomic number 18 similar manifestations of a Cyrenaic-style Hedonism. In these cases, the celebrator sought liberation from every-day inhibitions and a obscure experience of ecstasy, aided at generation by temple prostitutes. The Epicurean school of hedonistic philosophy might be looked on as the next detail of Hedonism. Named after its founder, Epicurus, and started around 306 BC, Epicureanism was a more moderate variety of the seeking of pleasure, recognizing the trouble ofThe Hedonistic ParadoxIf you dont achieve what is sought, you lose by frustration, if you do achieve what is sought, you lose by boredom. every way, pleasure is non consistently attained. whence Epicureans sought not necessarily the level best pleasure, but instead the optimum pleasure, either subjects considered. Too much wine leads to a hangover, not euphoria. So the balanced manipulation of pleasure was the heart by which Epicureans sought to achieve philosophical ataraxia, or love-in-idleness of mind. The term epicurean is even in use today as denoting a person of exquisite tastes and gourmet palate, enjoying the soften things in life in a refined and sophisticated manner. Hedonism capitalizes on the inborn attraction to pleasure and aversion to pain with which we, as noteing creatures, ar by nature endowed. Turning the pursuit of pleasure into an ultimate standpoint of value, the hedonist de termines the very convey of goodness in terms of pain and pleasure.Modern forms of Hedonism can be clear seen, along with their consequences in our social environment. The current pursuit of happiness, redefined as the pursuit of euphoria, has resulted in extreme expressions of escapism such as medicine abuse and alcoholism affect even the youngest members of society. Happiness has been translated almost merely into the category of musical noteings. The function of the word touchings in contemporary subtlety has undergone a extremist change. The concept is so pervasive that stock(a) traditional forms of language, categorical propositions and prefatory statements astir(predicate) theoretical thought have changed to have this word. How often have you perceive mortal state the following? I feel that you are mistaken, or, I feel that (this or that) is wrong. What is actually being talked nearly here is not a feeling, its a cognitive process, its thinking.That is not to s ay that feelings are unimportant feelings are a vital part of what it means to be human. For the work of the physician, counselor or the psychologist feelings are a totally reserve category to investigate. In inter-personal relationships youd better be dealing with the issues of feelings or chances are youre not communicating very well. Feeling, however is not the same thing as thinking. The concept has so permeated our culture that people are talking some feeling ideas and feeling thoughts. Largely ascribable to pop psychology we have last obsessed with the analysis of our moods, which is a focus on our feelings. How has this impacted our lives? If you are a thinking person you already know the answer to that question. Assuming youve been awake at some point during the last 30 years, you already know about the drug culture you live in it. Youve heard the statistics on teenage alcoholism.Youve seen the sexual transformation, and its results. The accepted definition of the word promiscuity prior to the 1960s was Sexual intimacy with more than one person extracurricular the bonds of marriage. The liberated Helen Gurley Brown gave us a new definition Having sexual relations with more than one person in the same day. Are you sure that the divorce rate in the united States is estimated at fifty percent? It is when we deprave into the doctrine that life is to be lived to pull out pain, including responsibility for anything uncomfortable that we begin to feel the impact of a philosophy of group Hedonism.By saying the avoidance of pain and the pursuit of pleasure is the good (not on the button good, but The Good), Hedonism is making a value judgement, which in the hierarchical structure of philosophy produces a system of moral philosophy, which in turn produces behavior patterns of morality. These are the cultural, ethical and philosophical reasons for the changes we have seen in society. As in all forms of philosophy based in secularism, Hedonism remov es the Transcendent, destroys any crowning(prenominal) basis for Truth and Goodness, and leaves us with feelings, preferences, and a totally subjective basis for ethics and morality. http//www.angelfire.com/az/experiment/hedonism.html