Explain the Difference Between Narrow and Preference Hedonism. Which Is a More Plausible Theory of Happiness?

Hedonism basically is how people chose pleasures over pain; pleasures are the thing that drives them in life. Aristippus’ view showed that pleasures and/or the good life were the end rather than happiness. He felt strongly that pleasures are often chased after by all people, whereas pain is often avoided. He also states that physical pleasures are valued more than intellectual pleasures because physical pleasures require more units of pleasure. Aristippus believed that people should go after the pleasures that are immediate as opposed to those that come over time.

Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are known for their theories about utilitarianism. Both of them agree that the ethical right thing to do would be to maximize utility in any given situation. Yet, both of them disagree when it came to defninig pleasure. Bentham’s theory generalizes pleasure as just the same type of emotion felt by anyone and in any situation. Mill’s theory on the other hand stated that there are two different types of pleasure: the higher intellectual pleasure and the lower physical pleasure

As humans we are constantly in search of understanding the balance between what feels good and what is right. Humans try to take full advantage of experiencing pleasure to its fullest potential. Hedonism claims that pleasure is the highest and only source of essential significance. If the notion of hedonism is truthful, happiness is directly correlated with pleasure. Robert Nozick presented the philosophical world with his though experiment, “The Experience Machine” in order to dispute the existence and validity of hedonism. Nozick’s thought experiment poses the question of whether or not humans would plug into a machine which produces any desired experience. Nozick weakens the notion of hedonism through his thought experiment, claiming

Happiness is a key to everybodys life. Even the most depressed man on earth has a little happiness deep down inside. Its what keeps us striving to fulfil our needs and wants on an everyday basis. There is not one kid who does not get excited over a dollar to spend at the candy shop. What about the feeling of getting a promotion at your job, or even finding the cure for cancer. Being happy is not just healthy, but it is also rewarding for each and every individual. We strive to find anything that will turn a bad day to a good one. Individuals will compromise to attain their happiness. You can not get what you want without giving something first.

Joel Kupperman in Six Myths about the Good Life: Thinking About What Has Value evaluates that humans as a whole want more comfort and pleasure in life as he it “may represent a tendency that is wired into normal human nature” (Kupperman 1). Through the explanation of pleasure as well as its arguable counterpart, suffering and the discussion of their values in addition to the counterargument of hedonic treadmill, Kupperman’s views about the role of pleasure in living a good life can be strongly supported and evaluated.

The desire satisfaction theory accommodates the thought which hedonism does not accommodate. According to the desire satisfaction theory, our lives go better when the world actually is a certain way, and doesn’t merely appear to be a certain way. An individual experiences pleasure when the desires are satisfied but it is not a guarantee that the desires cause pleasure.

Hedonism is the idea that well-being of people comes about through pleasure. Pure hedonism is the thought that it arises through and only through pleasure and both Bentham and Mill advocate different approaches for which hedonism may be the basis of human well-being. Both Philosophers then go on to construct theories of morality on the basis of this idea such that what should be maximised in a moral dilemma is the cumulative welfare of all individuals as measured by their particular approach for deciphering which course of action will yield the most well-being for all. However, the focus of

The hedonist would argue that pleasure is the only intrinsic good in life, that joy and suffering are the only distinguishing marks of things beneficial or harmful to the human being. To the hedonist, life is like the common balance scale with suffering on one side and pleasure on the other. With pleasure being inversely related to suffering, in order to maximize the good of life, the hedonist strives to minimize suffering, thereby maximizing net pleasure (pleasure minus suffering).

According to hedonism, pleasure is the most important good and the ultimate goal in life. Epicurus states that pleasure is in intrinsic good. Mill agrees with him, but along with Kazez, says that happiness is also an elemental good. In Epicurus’ theory, he defines pleasure as the absence of pain. Mill also uses this definition, but applies it to happiness as well. Therefore, we can agree on a definition for the two terms that makes sense: happiness and pleasure are both the absence of pain. According to Mill, happiness and pleasure are correlated. He says that happiness is the existence of pleasure. This is what drives all of our actions and desires. We desire things because it will bring us pleasure in some way and we avoid things because

Another important thing to examine carefully are moral choices. If moral choices are not examined, people will choose only what benefits them in the short term and not follow hedonism. Hedonism is a doctrine that states that pleasure is the only intrinsic good in humans and it is our moral obligation to strive to reduce pain and increase pleasure in themselves and others. 3 A student who slacks off on their homework may benefit in the short term by having free time to do as they please, but are putting their long term interests at risk. The student has not thought about how their lack of effort will affect their grades and whether or not they will have enough marks to get into a university or college.

Happiness is a result that we deserved, furthermore, it becomes a motivation for us to keep trying and getting success in life.

Hedonism is described as by Shafer as “life is good to the extent that it is filled with pleasure and is free of pain.” (Landau, 2010, p. 22). While one would say how is GMO affecting a person’s way of life,

Value hedonists’ view that pleasure is the only intrinsic good and pain is the only intrinsic evil seems to be an assumption rather than a deduced conclusion. This can be seen by asking why it is that pleasure is an intrinsic good. There seem to be only two possible answers to this question. The first possible reply is that the intrinsic good of pleasure is simply assumed, in which case the entire value hedonist’s view is an assumption involving no deduction whatsoever. Once someone agrees with the assumption or not, that is the end of the line; there can be no argumentation over this view. The second possible reply is for the value hedonist to say that he/she knows the goodness of pleasure from experience: that she has experienced pleasure

With the passage of time, new ideas emerge and there is always a new way of looking into things thus developing new epistemologies. Utilitarianism is one of the ways of looking at things, there were and are many thinkers of utilitarianism and out of all the thinkers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill were the key thinkers or the classical utilitarians. Mill (as cited in Mulgan, 2007) states, “actions are right in proportion as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure, and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure”. Their ideas have been criticized as they just focused on the end result without taking into consideration the intention or basic nature of an action. Their concept of utilitarianism has been criticized for inadequately comparing the happiness of different individuals and for not being able to measure certain concepts like equality and justices. The concept of utilitarianism emerged from the concept of hedonistic. Hedonistic as per (oxford dictionaries, 2015) is defined in terms of pleasant or unpleasant sensations. The idea of hedonism was first forwarded by Aristippus a follower of Socrates. These concepts, utilitarianism and hedonism, are generally used in economics and is widely used in marketing and especially in advertising. In advertising, different producers try to convince their customers to buy their product either by using the hedonistic or the utilitarian values.

Happiness may have diverse meanings to diverse individuals. But regardless of how we define happiness, our distinct passions and life experiences contribute in making each one of us cheerful. Undoubtedly, the secrets on how to live a happy and healthy life depends on how we sort out all the factors that play an imperative role in accomplishing the level of happiness we desire for ourselves.