What is pleasure?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Let’s not split rabbits. The case can be made that all experiences are instrumentally good and that none are intrinsically good.

Boru

The experience of doing cocaine is usually intrinsically good but it's usually instrumentally very bad.

The experience of listening to your favorite piece of music is usually intrinsically good but instrumentally it's usually neutral.

So, why do people do cocaine? Because it’s instrumental to the pleasure they feel. Same with listening to a piece of music, watching a sunrise, falling in love, etc. These things are instrumental to the pleasure we get from doing them. We don’t know if ANY experience is pleasurable until we’ve had it. Pleasure is the end game of a pleasurable experience. That makes the acts instrumental, not intrinsic.

Boru