(March 4, 2026 at 7:59 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:(March 4, 2026 at 7:50 pm)Disagreeable Wrote: I agree with you Belacqua, about those two definitions of pleasure. I used to use the second one a lot in the past. But nowadays, as you can see, I use the first.
Can you give me an example of one?
Most surgeries are experiences worth having, very few of them are pleasurable. Kicking heroin, stopping smoking, calling the police, and so on.
Oh, and being kicked in the bollocks. A worthwhile experience in and of itself. Definitely a teachable moment.
Boru
Those experiences are all instrumentally good, not good for their own sake.
If you didn't gain anything positive from the kick in a bollocks, and you weren't a masochist so the experience wouldn't count as a pleasure overall, then it isn't good for its own sake.
Same applies to the other examples. They're good instrumentally, not for their own sake.
Schopenhauer Wrote:The intellect has become free, and in this state it does not even know or understand any other interest than that of truth.
Epicurus Wrote:The greatest reward of righteousness is peace of mind.
Epicurus Wrote:Don't fear god,
Don't worry about death;
What is good is easy to get,
What is terrible is easy to endure
