The combination of these two states is supposed to constitute happiness in its highest form. Following Aristippus-about whom very little is known-Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear ( ataraxia) as well as absence of bodily pain ( aponia) through knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of our desires. His materialism led him to a general stance against superstition or the idea of divine intervention. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus and Leucippus. Įpicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus ( c. The following is a song attributed to the reign of one of the Intef kings before or after the 12th dynasty, and the text was used in the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties. Scenes of a harper entertaining guests at a feast was common in ancient Egyptian tombs (see Harper's Songs), and sometimes contained hedonistic elements, calling guests to submit to pleasure because they cannot be sure that they will be rewarded for good with a blissful afterlife. He also said that everyone should try to attain pleasure at every time they possibly could. He held the idea that pleasure is the highest good (pg.567 2nd paragraph). It is said to have been started by a student of Socrates, Aristippus of Cyrene (Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, pg. On the matter of history, ethical hedonism has been around longer than psychological hedonism. It goes on to state that unqualified psychological hedonism does not leave very much room for ethical admonition. According to the Encyclopedia of Religion, it is possible to adopt psychological hedonism without adopting ethical hedonism. Along with those ideas ethical hedonism supports that idea that it is morally and ethically right to do what is needed to achieve such pleasure. It is also the idea that every man's pleasure should far surpass their amount of pain.
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Ethical HedonismĮthical Hedonism is the idea that all men have the right to do everything in their power to achieve the greatest amount of pleasure possible to them. Hence, the theory is an inductive generalization from experience by social scientists. Psychological Hedonism is a descriptive theory holding that all people do in fact pursue pleasure even if this is not the way people ought to be this is the way people actually are-they naturally seek pleasure. The later Roman emperors were notorious for their hedonism.
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The name derives from the Greek word for "delight" ( ἡδονισμός hēdonismos from ἡδονή hēdonē "pleasure", cognate with English sweet + suffix -ισμός -ismos " ism").