RE: What is pleasure?
March 8, 2026 at 10:43 am
(This post was last modified: March 8, 2026 at 11:03 am by Disagreeable.)
That sounds to me like you are saying that pleasure is intrinsically valuable. Because a pleasurable activity, or experience, is something that is enjoyable in itself, rather than a reward you get from doing/experiencing something.
I mean, this is perfectly compatible with the notion that maybe the whole experience or whole activity isn't intrinsically pleasurable, but just some aspect of it. The key point is that it's not like you do/experience something and then it produces pleasure. It's that the activity/experience itself, or an aspect of it, is the pleasure.
A separate, but interesting, point: Have you heard of the paradox of hedonism?
It's the following:
If we treat pleasure as an end in itself then it's hard to achieve it, but if we focus on activities/experiences themselves then they're more likely to be pleasurable. Quite interesting.
I mean, this is perfectly compatible with the notion that maybe the whole experience or whole activity isn't intrinsically pleasurable, but just some aspect of it. The key point is that it's not like you do/experience something and then it produces pleasure. It's that the activity/experience itself, or an aspect of it, is the pleasure.
A separate, but interesting, point: Have you heard of the paradox of hedonism?
It's the following:
Quote: The paradox of hedonism (or pleasure paradox) is the concept that directly pursuing pleasure or happiness as a primary goal often makes achieving it impossible. Coined by Henry Sidgwick, it suggests that focusing too intensely on becoming happy or experiencing pleasure actually prevents those states, whereas happiness is usually found as a byproduct of pursuing other, meaningful goals.
If we treat pleasure as an end in itself then it's hard to achieve it, but if we focus on activities/experiences themselves then they're more likely to be pleasurable. Quite interesting.
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


