English Literature

I have always been fascinated by the word Hedonism, initially by the sound of it  perhaps due to the ancient Greeks origin which surrounds it with a mysterious and mythic aura, and then by the meaning underneath the word and the message emitted. Pursuit of pleasure (Collins English Dictionary), devotion to pleasure (American heritage dictionary), the belief that pleasure is the most important thing in life (Oxford Dictionary) are some of the meanings attributed to it, which, if taken to the extreme, can be quite dangerous. Rock stars epitomize this pursuit of happiness and pleasure and we should not leave out Hollywood young stars like Paris HiltonorLindsay Lohan. In other words, as the philosopherPaul Carusdefines it, hedonism is the view which bases ethics upon the consideration ofpleasure and pain and goodness is one that affords the greatest amount of pleasurable feeling (Carus 374). Hedonism, according to him, in the crudest form is selfishness. Quite contrary to the meaning of pleasure as the sole doctrine, in this paper, I will argue that Hedonism today is merely a sad escape from reality, like anti-depression drugs which give you temporary peace of mind.

Before proceeding to defining hedonism, most importantly we need to understand what pleasure is. According toStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, pleasure broadly means all pleasant feeling or experience such as elation, ecstasy, delight, joy and enjoyment. Immediately, we see nightclubs, drugs, liquor, sex, etc amongst this broad picture. But how do we differentiate the exuberant feeling of being drunk from the delight and joy of being able to achieve a goal, say, when you get the job you desire One can answer that there are obviously two consequences from such merriment one is progressive and one is wasteful. But both the one who drinks and the one who works hard are in the pursuit of pleasure if we believe in the above definition, and thus are both considered hedonistic. Another example is those who run regularly. They will perhaps tell you that doing so keeps them fit. In reality many of them are addicted to the adrenaline rush and the good feeling after a long run (Sachs, 1998). Therefore, everyone can be broadly considered hedonistic because one either works or plays, from which they can derive joy and delight, perhaps with the exception of those ill-health people who refrain from doing so. However, a mountain can not be called tall amongst other equally tall mountains similarly, no one is hedonistic if everyone is hedonistic. Therefore, we need a less ambiguous definition for this word.

First, hedonism is pleasure-seeking and often arises from theseven deadly sins lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. It is quite easy to see how one derives pleasure from such sins. For example, scientific research shows that certain food such as chocolate and other sweet foods can trigger the release of endorphin which makes you happy. Envy enables you to derive pleasure from seeing your competitors misfortunes and lust helps the entertainment industry flourish. Second, hedonism is usually associated with excess and indulgence. We all have needs in fact according to Maslows hierarchy of needs, the mostbasic needsare food, drink, sex, sleep, etc (Simons et al 1987).

But there is a line between enough and excess. For instance, we know well that we are consuming an excessive amount of food if we are taking in 4000 calories instead of the recommended 2000 calories or that we are too greedy if we illegally earn our wealth. Finally, hedonism is an individualistic and independent belief in the goodness of indulgence and excess because the pleasure derived can only felt by the one directly involved and, for the time being, we can assume the spill-over effects of one happy person on society are negligible.

Based on my definition of hedonism, I will explain why I call hedonism a sad escape from reality. Normally, when we say escape, we usually mean a movement from our current position to a better position under certain constraints. A sad escape, to me, means a desperate movement from one sorrowful position to another bad position unrealized by the escapist. A clear example is betweendeveloping countriesanddeveloped countries. Some developing countries receive a huge amount of loans from rich countries under the impression that rich countries are helping them to escape poverty. The reality is that rich countries know well that the poor countries, especially those are oil-rich, will forever depend on such loans because they will never be able to pay back both the annual interests and the debts. Back to hedonism, a hedonist basically is a pleasure seeker so it is safe to say that he primarily wants to move from his current state to a more elated and delightful state. In other words, he is trying to escape his current condition. Drinking makes one exuberant punishing someone relieves one from ones wrath eating calms one down. However, the pleasure is transient and the final position that the escapist lands on is often worse than the initial one. Reality is ones position amidst what is morally right and wrong, the social norms, traditions and values, which is often associated with rationality, logicality and reason. Excess and indulgence in the seven original sins place one visibly outside this realm because first of all, we know they do more harm than good but we choose to continue indulging ourselves. We know that drinking is bad for our liver. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more 13000 cases of alcoholic liver disease deaths in 2006. But in the US, 50 percent of adult are regular drinkers. Excessive greed, envy and wrath are all potential source of crimes insider trading, money embezzlement, slandering, domestic violence. Sloth is equally unrealistic because one has to learn and work in order to survive. Therefore, in order to find temporary pleasure, one may end up an alcoholic, being infected with STDs, inflicting pains on others, etc.
   
It is inevitable that my definition of hedonism has its limitations. Hedonism is, of course, not all negative. For example, connoisseurs in cuisine and wine are those who love food wholeheartedly and set apart substandard and excellent dishes and wine types. They gain their expertise through incessant dining and drinking, sometimes in excess, but they help us develop better understanding about tastes. Secondly, in my definition I assume that the hedonist is initially in total control over his decisions because he has choices and thus overlook Benthams motivational hedonism in which pain and pleasure act as a motivation for ones action.
     
Hedonism has a long history. Oscar Wildes character Dorian Grays hedonistic behavior in the novel The picture of Dorian Grays hardly measures up to some of modern celebrities lifestyle. In general, the word usually conjures up images of excessiveness which are, more than often, associated with glamour and money. However, as I have argued above, hedonism is simply an escape. If you can minimize it like Madonna, you end up with a substantial amount of money in your bank account and an enviable body even in your 50s otherwise you will end up with declining health and hope like Lindsay Lohan.