Books of the week: Life of pleasure or the main books of a hedonist
Author rzinzer in Books of the week from 03/29/2018
As Wikipedia writes, Hedonism (from the Greek “pleasure” or “enjoyment”) is a philosophical doctrine according to which obtaining pleasure from life is the goal of this very life and the highest good. The list of books is about that below. Pleasure, no suffering, no murders (well, almost), blood, broken love and other things without which literature cannot exist. All hedonistic literature, in my opinion, is very tied to travel. Well, imagine, at home there is routine, money, life is such that the love boat crumbles into pieces, but as soon as it drives away, joy begins. Zero savings, wine, cinema and dominoes. That's what books are about. All are wonderful, interesting, but the plot will not hold you by the throat. These books are best read somewhere in a hayloft in a village or on a beach in Thailand - just calm, measured pleasure.
The origins of hedonism are deeply rooted in history.
Any culture is defined by its teachers and founders.
Hedonism can already be recognized for the fact that it originated a long time ago, back in Ancient Greece, and the founder of this trend was the student of the great Socrates, who is still respected. Freud, developing this teaching, determined that a person from the day of his birth is a natural hedonist, but over time everything becomes boring, and to get pleasure from life you need control over your actions and the method “work hard, try - enjoy life.”
What is hedonism
Hedonism is a value system that sees pleasure as the highest goal of human existence. For a hedonist, pleasure and happiness are synonymous. Moreover, it doesn’t matter at all what a person gets the most pleasure from: sensual (sexual, gastronomic) or intellectual-spiritual (reading books, watching films) pleasures. Intellectual efforts and sensual pleasures are put on a par when the former do not pursue the goal of learning, but are performed solely for the sake of pleasure. In other words, we can say that hedonism is, among other things, also an activity that is not burdened by a goal or any external or internal results. For example, a person watches movies and reads books just for entertainment or to improve self-esteem.
Ways for hedonists to get a permanent high
A hedonist is convinced that in order to obtain pleasure one can sacrifice the norms of morality, honor and ethics established unspoken in society.
Let's look at the main ways hedonists get pleasure:
- food;
- sex;
- alcohol;
- hobby;
- family;
- Job;
- Friends;
- confession;
- achieving higher spiritual development.
In addition to the main ways that lead to bliss, a hedonist is able to capture moments of happiness from any little things: be it contemplation of nature, organizing parties, traveling around the world, even virtue can cause the realization of complete happiness.
Hedonism in the modern world
Due to the pace of modern life, a person bears a lot of responsibilities and routine tasks that he must perform to survive in society. A large information flow tires us, and this makes us chronically dissatisfied.
Therefore, more and more people are joining the flow of hedonism in order to get pleasure now . And not to work from early morning until late evening, so that somewhere later you can buy an apartment for your old age.
An abundance of pleasant things and a variety of entertainment allows you to achieve pleasure right now. Hedonists strive to acquire the best things, because they often believe that this is what can bring happiness. For example, expensive alcoholic drinks, a leather sofa.
Society began to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy hedonism . The first includes satisfying one’s desires without harming other people and the environment. The second one has the opposite position. When a person, in order to obtain pleasure, is ready to disregard the feelings of others or morality, laws.
Our expectations as a barrier to hedonism
Hedonist is, first of all, a philosophical term.
From the point of view of human psychology, only he himself can give an assessment of his condition, and it consists of his expectations and attitude towards life and the situations that occur in it. For example, a person can “get” an absolute buzz when eating instant noodles, while another needs to go to dinner at an elite restaurant of their favorite cuisine to find happiness. In both cases, they both get maximum pleasure. In sexual relationships, substitution of concepts can also occur. For some, sex with your beloved wife once a week is absolute bliss, while for others, daily intimacy with different partners is necessary. Much closer to the term “hedonism” will be the one who sets up a “happiness” scale in his head and tries to realize himself in accordance with it.
A hedonist is convinced that he himself makes him happy, therefore, in satisfying primary needs, it is necessary to determine in advance the bar that will allow, by realizing them to a minimum, to get maximum pleasure.
History of the development of hedonism
This doctrine was founded by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristippus (V – IV centuries BC). He believed that the human soul has two main states: pleasure and suffering. In his opinion, there is not much difference between the different types of these two feelings, and only their intensity changes. Aristippus laid down the basic principle of hedonism: getting the maximum pleasure from life while avoiding suffering.
Epicurus (IV - III centuries BC) believed that a person should live a “successful” life, and he considered the most important indicator of a successful life to be the absence of suffering and misfortune. According to Epicurus, a happy person is one who does not have to deal with unpleasant things. At the same time, he did not attach much importance to refined pleasures and luxury, believing that the most important were simple and accessible goods: personal happiness and strong friendship.
The English philosopher Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900) defined in his own way what hedonism is. He divided this concept into two: “ethical hedonism” and “psychological hedonism” (we discussed them above). The first term is used to refer to classical philosophical hedonism as described by Aristippus. The second implies the desire for pleasure and avoidance of suffering inherent in our psyche.
Are hedonists and egoists different people?
Often, hedonists are not liked because they believe that they live only for themselves; in fact, this is not at all the case.
When there are happy people nearby, their number is growing every day, you can spread optimism, but doing this is much more difficult than spreading negativity around. Hedonists try to constantly develop, because by degrading you can only get a short-term high, mainly alcoholics and drug addicts suffer from this. Therefore, it is desirable to have fun without harming others, but first of all, ourselves.
The hedonist approaches the egoist in an effort to comprehend himself spiritually, to find out the purpose of his own “I” and to endow it with absolute happiness in his head. A person who takes grandmothers across the road, helps loved ones financially, and is ready to provide moral support to relatives can also be a hedonist, but only on the condition that his good deeds make him happier every minute.
How does hedonism manifest itself?
Hedonism considers all types of pleasure available to a person: delicious food, sex, hobbies, pleasant communication, drinking alcohol, etc. Most people associate pleasure with various physical pleasures, but hedonism also implies receiving aesthetic and moral pleasure. This could be the pleasure of contemplating a picturesque landscape, the joy of selflessly provided help, or the feeling of satisfaction from a job well done.
Hedonism involves not only choosing activities that bring pleasure, but also avoiding anything that causes discomfort. And the second part is much more difficult for most people to understand. Many of us constantly engage in unfulfilling activities that we could give up completely. Sometimes we simply cannot distinguish between real pleasure and imposed pleasure. In such situations, it seems to us that we are relaxing, having a good time with friends, but in fact we are under great stress.
Surely you too have had situations when you agreed to take part in some kind of “entertainment” event, despite your lack of desire. For example, friends invited you to a club, and you couldn’t refuse, so you spent the whole evening in an uncomfortable environment. Formally, such a pastime is considered rest, but in practice it can be more tiring than the most difficult work. That's why
the ability to say “No!”
– one of the most important skills of a hedonist.
It is difficult to find two people with the same interests and desires, so hedonism manifests itself differently in everyone. The main thing is to be able to highlight things for yourself that bring true pleasure and do not cause inconvenience. A hedonist can be called a person who “wastes” his life, has fun in every possible way, drinks with friends, lives for today and does not think about tomorrow. In the same way, a hedonist is a successful businessman who finds pleasure in devoting all his free time to work and making detailed plans for the years ahead.
What is a hedonist afraid of?
The most terrible word for hedonists is “debt”.
If you tell him that he must do something or that his obligation includes doing the following, the response will be blame and indifference. Any resistance in his body that separates him from receiving pleasure, an action that is useless in the opinion of the hedonist, brings the human mechanism into a stupor. He turns into a negative character, both for society as a whole and for his family and friends.
A hedonist can be the most responsible person, fulfill all orders efficiently and on time, but there is no need to push and rush him, and, especially, to impose your own opinion on him.
Enjoyment and meaning in life
Armed with the above, it is not difficult to understand that the motto “the meaning of life is hedonism” can only exist if pleasure is spiritualized and subject to certain moral restrictions. Pleasures themselves cannot be the basis of life or human happiness, because they always bring along with them boredom, and this cannot be avoided.
Another thing is when a person finds pleasure in work or self-sacrifice, then both he and society benefit. In addition, any activity, even the most insignificant, that does not cause harm to others and leads to the harmonization of the inner world, can become a source of meaning in life for a person. With rare exceptions, the sages believed so (for example, A. Schopenhauer and Epicurus). For them, hedonism in philosophy is, first of all, not the intensity of pleasure, but the absence of suffering.
There were, of course, those who insisted on pleasure in all its varied forms (for example, the thinkers of the Renaissance). But now, anyway, most people have literally gone crazy because of the worship of pleasure. Modern man desperately craves pleasure, harmony of internal and external life and therefore buys and buys different things, hoping that they will replace his happiness. And in a society of total consumption of everything and everyone, the definition that hedonism in philosophy is mainly the absence of suffering, and not a constant muddy stream of dubious sensual pleasures, will come in handy.
Hedonists among us
Taking a close look at your friends, colleagues at work, family and friends, it is easy to identify a hedonist.
These are mostly creative people who lead a different lifestyle from the majority of people, often look or strive to appear younger than their age, can be very active, or have a philosophical outlook on life. They have a distinctive sense of humor, self-irony, are vulnerable, sensitive, and romantic. If you can look into their soul and understand them, then it will be interesting for you to spend time with them, communicate and even do business.
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