pleasure

American Heritage Dictionary:

pleas·ure

(plĕzh'ər) pronunciation

The state or feeling of being pleased or gratified.
A source of enjoyment or delight: The graceful skaters were a pleasure to watch.
Amusement, diversion, or worldly enjoyment: "Pleasure . . . is a safer guide than either right or duty" (Samuel Butler).
Sensual gratification or indulgence.
One's preference or wish: What is your pleasure?

v., -ured, -ur·ing, -ures.

v.tr.
To give pleasure or enjoyment to; gratify: Our host pleasured us with his company.

v.intr.

To take pleasure; delight: The hiker paused, pleasuring in the sounds of the forest.
To go in search of pleasure or enjoyment.

[Middle English, from Old French plaisir, from plaisir, to please. See please.]

pleasureless pleas'ure·less adj.

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Several philosophical movements have been explicitly directed towards pleasure, treating it as an end in itself rather than as the consequence of some higher ideal, such as virtue, knowledge, or faith. These include Epicureanism, Utilitarianism, and psychoanalysis. All three systems evaluate human behaviour in practical terms: what matters is not whether a given action is right or wrong, but whether it is conducive to happiness. Pleasure philosophies tend to be empirical and materialistic, taking sensations as a starting point and referring only to lived experience. Not surprisingly, they all evolved in opposition to the dominant world view.

Epicureanism arose in Greece in the fourth century bc. The school's founder, Epicurus, was trained in the Platonist tradition then popular in Athens, but came to reject Plato's philosophy because it undervalued day-to-day life. In place of the abstract reasoning which emphasized thought over feelings and subordinated worldly concerns to pure ideas, Epicurus taught that nothing exists beyond the realm of sensations. Nature is the best guide to behaviour; by appreciating our human instincts, and learning how best to satisfy them, we ensure that our lives will be happy.

Epicureanism has been misrepresented as favouring physical pleasure over other modes of experience. In fact, the greatest good to the Epicurean was not ecstasy, the gratification of the senses alone, but tranquility or peace of mind. Recognizing that physical pleasure is fleeting and may ultimately entail pain, Epicurus encouraged his followers to strive for the more durable happiness that would result from selecting intelligently among competing pleasures. Not only physical sensations but emotions, dreams, memories, fears, and fantasies affect our feelings in painful or pleasurable ways. The trick is to cultivate a state of mind that minimizes the painful while enabling us to experience pleasure as fully as possible.

The Epicurean way of life put happiness within everyone's reach. Also appealing, and absolutely unprecedented, was the egalitarianism of the community Epicurus established, where slaves and women, including prostitutes, were full-fledged participants. Following his death, the movement spread throughout the Greek world, as far as Egypt and Asia. It endured into the Roman era and coexisted with Stoicism and Christianity, was revived by humanists during the Renaissance and was espoused by the philosophes during the Enlightenment. What later admirers found so congenial was the Epicureans' realism. Their avoidance of the supernatural and the stress they placed on the material world were compatible with the more secular and scientific outlook that came to characterize the modern mind.

These currents fed into the movement known as Utilitarianism, which developed in nineteenth-century Britain. Utilitarians assumed that the amount of pleasure intrinsic to any course of action can be precisely calculated, making it possible to choose between rival activities according to the degree of happiness each is likely to produce. In the words of the school's founder, Jeremy Bentham, ‘quantity of pleasure being equal, pushpin (a children's game) is as good as poetry.’ Abstract considerations do not enter into the equation; the principle of utility implies neither moral nor aesthetic judgments. In the end, all that counts is whether the outcome is pleasurable or painful.

Consistent with the egalitarian spirit of Epicureanism, Bentham's goal was the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Here lies the originality of Utilitarianism: its definition of happiness is formulated in social, not personal terms. What is good for the individual should benefit the community as a whole. John Stuart Mill developed this doctrine into a total ethical philosophy, an alternative to the Christian reliance on duty. Mill saw no contradiction between the pursuit of self-interest and advancing the common good. Pleasing ourselves necessarily involves pleasing others, he believed, since the best way to achieve happiness as an individual is within a truly democratic society, one in which the needs of every member are met.

Utilitarianism had radical implications for political and legal reform. For Bentham, the best institutions and laws were those that increased pleasure and decreased pain, a proposition he set out to prove by drafting a model civil and criminal code. Underlying this system is the assumption that men and women are rational agents capable of recognizing their true interests and pursuing these at all times. To the objection that rational motivations alone do not determine behaviour, however, the Utilitarian had no reply.

Understanding the non-rational component of human experience (behaviour that seems to contradict our best interests) was the project of Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis began with pleasure. Indeed, Freud viewed the instinct for pleasure as the primary incentive for all activity. But he also saw that the way in which we achieve pleasure is neither a simple nor a straightforward process. Religious prohibitions, cultural institutions, and social structures — the parameters of the environment we inhabit — all serve to thwart the gratification of our desires, and this frustration causes pain. In response, we develop strategies for avoiding pain, not all of which are productive.

Psychoanalysis judges behaviour in purely functional terms. Those strategies which permit people to obtain fulfilment are good or healthy; bad or unhealthy behaviours prevent us from living comfortably in the world. By making us aware of the origins of our unhealthy behaviour, psychoanalysis helps us to adapt to external reality. But in the end, it is the individual who must decide which compromises to make.

In his later years, Freud devoted much effort to exposing the negative impact of civilization on human development. The experience of World War I also prompted him to modify his theory, leading him to postulate the existence of a destructive impulse in perpetual conflict with the instinct for pleasure. This critical tendency within Freud's thinking lent a pessimistic cast to his writing and probably accounts for the hostility with which his ideas were greeted. Nevertheless, psychoanalysis has exerted a significant influence on the twentieth century. Like other pleasure philosophies, it equips individuals with a sense of their own potential, instilling them with greater acceptance of themselves and tolerance for others.

— Lisa Lieberman

Bibliography

Gay, P. (ed.) (1989). The Freud reader. W. W. Norton and Company, New York and London

Roget's Thesaurus:

pleasure

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noun

A feeling of extreme gratification aroused by something good or desired: delectation, delight, enjoyment, joy. See happy/unhappy, like/dislike.
The condition of responding pleasurably to something: delectation, enjoyment. See pain/pleasure.
A desire for a particular thing or activity: fancy, liking, mind, will. See like/dislike.
Unrestricted freedom to choose: discretion, will. See free/unfree.

verb

To give great or keen pleasure to: cheer, delight, enchant, gladden, gratify, overjoy, please, tickle. Archaic joy. See happy/unhappy, like/dislike.
To feel or take joy or pleasure: delight, exult, joy, rejoice. See happy/unhappy.

Antonyms by Answers.com:

pleasure

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Definition: delight, happiness
Antonyms: displeasure, gloom, melancholy, pain, sadness, sorrow, trouble, unhappiness, worry

n

Definition: will, inclination
Antonyms: dislike, hate, hatred

Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy:

pleasure

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A surprisingly complex concept, although central to any account of human and animal motivation. Perhaps the simplest theory of pleasure treats it as being on the same dimension as pain: a bodily sensation, but of a positive kind, where pain is of a negative kind. This, however, fails to account for cases where we take pleasure in an activity or from receiving a piece of news, when nothing like a pleasurable taste or other sensation is apparent. As Aristotle pointed out, we cannot say that the pleasure we take in an activity is a kind of sensation that could in principle have been obtained by some other activity: rather, the pleasure forms a complement of the activity ‘as bloom in the case of youth’ (Nicomachean Ethics, x. 4). Furthermore, it seems contingent whether any sensation is pleasurable or otherwise, depending upon other desires and concerns. Pleasure seems more to be a quality of consciousness, intimately connected to contentment or happiness, rather than another element within conscious experience. Pleasure has often been proposed as the end of all action, either because this is what actually motivates us, or because there is a concealed contradiction in the idea of action that is not so motivated (see hedonism). The ideal of much economic and social philosophy would be to measure pleasures, with the object of constructing a felicific calculus for use in social choice theory. But pleasure proves remarkably resistant to such a treatment. Whilst we can make crude comparative judgements (this year's holiday gave us more pleasure than last year's, when it rained), the subject seems inherently resistant to quantitative treatments. Questions such as whether one gets more pleasure from art or music, leisure or work, seem to become rapidly meaningless. See also Epicureanism, hedonism, measurement, utility.

Devil's Dictionary:

pleasure

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A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

The least hateful form of dejection.

Word Tutor:

pleasure

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IN BRIEF: An activity that causes delight or joy.

There is pleasure in calm remembrance of a past sorrow. — Cicero (106-43 BC), Roman orator, statesman, philosopher and writer.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

Quotes About:

Pleasure

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Quotes:

"The important question is not, what will yield to man a few scattered pleasures, but what will render his life happy on the whole amount." - Joseph Addison

"A fool bolts pleasure, then complains of moral indigestion." - Minna Antrim

"The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain." - Aristotle

"One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other." - Jane Austen

"A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." - Walter Bagehot

"In diving to the bottom of pleasure we bring up more gravel than pearls." - Honore De Balzac

See more famous quotes about Pleasure

Rhymes:

pleasure

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See words rhyming with "pleasure."

Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Pleasure

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For other uses, see Pleasure (disambiguation).

"Pleasant" redirects here. For other uses, see Pleasant (disambiguation).

This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. See the talk page for details. WikiProject Psychology or the Psychology Portal may be able to help recruit an expert. (February 2009)

Comic mask on the façade of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm

Weekend pleasure in France

Gentlemen's Pleasures by Adolphe-Alexandre Lesrel, 1885

Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria. In psychology, the pleasure principle describes pleasure as a positive feedback mechanism, motivating the organism to recreate in the future the situation which it has just found pleasurable. According to this theory, organisms are similarly motivated to avoid situations that have caused pain in the past.

The experience of pleasure is subjective and different individuals will experience different kinds and amounts of pleasure in the same situation. Many pleasurable experiences are associated with satisfying basic biological drives, such as eating, exercise or sex. Other pleasurable experiences are associated with social experiences and social drives, such as the experiences of accomplishment, recognition, and service. The appreciation of cultural artifacts and activities such as art, music, and literature is often pleasurable.

In recent years, significant progress has been made in understanding the brain mechanisms underlying pleasure. ^[1] One of the key discoveries was made by Kent C. Berridge who has shown that pleasure is not a unitary experience. Rather, pleasure consists of multiple brain processes including liking, wanting and learning subserved by distinct yet partially overlapping brain networks. ^[2] In particular, this research has been helped by the use of objective pleasure-elicited reactions in humans and other animals such as the behavioral ‘liking’/‘disliking’ facial expressions to tastes that are homologous between humans and many other mammals. ^[3]

Recreational drug use can be pleasurable: some drugs, illicit and otherwise, directly create euphoria in the human brain when ingested. The mind's natural tendency to seek out more of this feeling (as described by the pleasure principle) can lead to dependence and addiction. Berridge and Robinson have proposed that addiction results from drugs hijacking the ‘wanting’ system through a sensitization of the mesolimbic dopamine system.^[4]

Contents

1 Philosophical views
- 1.1 Philosophies of pleasure
2 Neurobiology
3 Pleasure as a uniquely human experience
4 Masochism
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading

Philosophical views

Hedonism
Part of a series on
Thinkers Jeremy Bentham · Julien Offray de La Mettrie · Aristippus of Cyrene · Epicurus · Michel Onfray · Aristippus the Younger · Hermarchus · Lucretius · Pierre Gassendi · Metrodorus of Lampsacus · Zeno of Sidon
Schools of hedonism Cārvāka · Cyrenaics · Epicureanism Christian hedonism · Utilitarianism · Abolitionism
Key concepts aponia · ataraxia · Eudaimonia · Happiness · Hedone · Pain · Pleasure · Sensation · Suffering · Tetrapharmakos
v d e

Epicurus and his followers defined the highest pleasure as the absence of suffering^[5] and pleasure itself as "freedom from pain in the body and freedom from turmoil in the soul".^[6] According to Cicero (or rather his character Torquatus) Epicurus also believed that pleasure was the chief good and pain the chief evil.^[7]

In the 12th century Razi's "Treatise of the Self and the Spirit" (Kitab al Nafs Wa’l Ruh) analyzed different types of pleasure, sensuous and intellectual, and explained their relations with one another. He concludes that human needs and desires are endless, and "their satisfaction is by definition impossible."^[8]

The 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer understood pleasure as a negative sensation, one that negates the usual existential condition of suffering.^[9]

Philosophies of pleasure

Utilitarianism and Hedonism are philosophies that advocate increasing to the maximum the amount of pleasure and minimizing the amount of suffering.

Neurobiology

The pleasure center is the set of brain structures, predominantly the nucleus accumbens, theorized to produce great pleasure when stimulated electrically. Some references state that the septum pellucidium is generally considered to be the pleasure center,^[10] while others mention the hypothalamus when referring to the pleasure center for intracranial stimulation.^[11] Certain chemicals are known to stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain. These include dopamine^[12] and various endorphins. It has been specifically stated that physical exertion can release endorphines in what is called the runner's high, and equally it has been found that chocolate and certain spices, such as from the family of the chilli, can release or cause to be released similar psychoactive chemicals to those released during sexual acts.

Pleasure as a uniquely human experience

There has been debate as to whether pleasure is experienced by other animals rather than being an exclusive property of humankind. On the one hand, Jeremy Bentham (usually regarded as the founder of Utilitarianism)^[13] and Beth Dixon^[14] both argue that they do—the latter, however, in a carefully worded manner. People who believe in human exceptionalism might argue that it is a form of anthropomorphism to ascribe any human experience to animals, including pleasure. Others view animal behaviour simply as responses to stimuli; this is the way behaviourists look at the evidence, Pavlov's dogs (or rather his explanation of their behaviour) being the best-known example. However, it may be argued that we simply cannot know whether animals experience pleasure, and most scientists, indeed, prefer to remain neutral while utilizing anthropomorphisms as and when they need them.^[15] It appears, though, that those who recognise emotions in animals are in the ascent: many ethologists, for example Marc Bekoff, are prepared to draw the conclusion that animals do experience emotions, though these are not necessarily the same as human emotions.^[16]

Masochism

Masochists are those who derive pleasure from receiving pain. The existence of masochism complicates the commonly-held view that pleasure, as a positive experience, is fundamentally opposite pain, a negative experience. Masochism is context-dependent: masochists enjoy certain kinds of pain in certain situations.

References

^ Kringelbach, M.L; K.C. Berridge (2010). Pleasures of the brain. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-533102-8.
^ Berridge, K.C., Kringelbach, M.L. (2008) Affective neuroscience of pleasure: Reward in humans and other animals. Psychopharmacology 199, 457-80.
^ Videos of Pleasure-elicited Reactions.
^ Robinson, T.E., Berridge, K.C. 1993 The neural basis of drug craving: an incentive-sensitization theory of addiction. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 18(3):247-91.
^ The Forty Principal Doctrines, Number III.
^ Letter to Menoeceus, Section 131-2.
^ About the Ends of Goods and Evils, Book I, From Section IX, Torquatus sets out his understanding of Epicurus's philosophy.
^ Haque, Amber (2004). "Psychology from Islamic Perspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists". Journal of Religion and Health 43 (4): 357–377 [371]. doi:10.1007/s10943-004-4302-z.
^ Counsels and Maxims, Chapter 1, General Rules Section 1.
^ Walsh, Anthony (1991). The Science of Love – Understanding Love and its Effects on Mind and Body. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-648-9.
^ Kandel ER, Schwartz JH, Jessell TM. Principles of Neural Science, 4th ed. McGraw-Hill, New York (2000). ISBN 0-8385-7701-6
^ Giuliano, F.; Allard J. (2001). "Dopamine and male sexual function". Eur Urol 40 (6): 601–608. doi:10.1159/000049844. PMID 11805404.
^ Bentham, Jeremy (1996). An Introduction to the Principles of Moral Legislation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820516-6. http://www.la.utexas.edu/research/poltheory/bentham/ipml/ipml.toc.html.
^ Ethics & the Environment, Volume 6, Number 2, Autumn 2001, pp. 22-30, Indiana University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press, see also: Emotion in animals
^ Horowitz A. 2007. Anthropomorphism., In M. Bekoff, ed., Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships, pp 60-66, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT.
^ Do animals have emotions?, From The Sunday Times, August 24, 2008.

Pleasure

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - glæde, lystfølelse, ønske
adj. - lyst-
v. tr. - tilfredsstille
v. intr. - fornøje, nyde

idioms:

at your pleasure som du ønsker
my pleasure ingen årsag

Nederlands (Dutch)
plezier, welbehagen, genoegen, goeddunken, verlangen

Français (French)
n. - plaisir, bien-être, désir
adj. - agréable
v. tr. - donner du plaisir à, faire plaisir à qn
v. intr. - prendre plaisir à (qch, à faire qch), enchanter, ravir

idioms:

at someone's pleasure à son gré
my pleasure avec plaisir

Deutsch (German)
n. - Freude, Vergnügen
adj. - Vergnügungs...
v. - jmdm. Freude machen, sich freuen

idioms:

at someone's pleasure nach deinem Wunsch
my pleasure es war mir ein Vergnügen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ευχαρίστηση, απόλαυση, τέρψη, χαρά, ηδονή

idioms:

at your pleasure κατά βούληση
my pleasure ευχαρίστησή μου!

Italiano (Italian)
piacere

idioms:

at your pleasure come vuoi, quando vuoi
my pleasure il piacere è mio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - prazer (m), vontade (f), satisfação (f)

idioms:

at your pleasure a seu gosto, às suas ordens
my pleasure o prazer é meu

Русский (Russian)
радость, удовольствие

idioms:

at your pleasure по вашему желанию
my pleasure всегда пожалуйста

Español (Spanish)
n. - placer, gusto, satisfacción, discreción, voluntad
adj. - de placer
v. tr. - dar placer, complacer, dar gusto
v. intr. - dar placer, complacer, dar gusto

idioms:

at someone's pleasure al gusto de alguien
my pleasure con mucho gusto, con placer

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - nöje, njutning, vällust, glädje, önskan, gottfinnande

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
愉快, 高兴, 乐事, 满足, 乐趣, 愉快的, 高兴的, 使高兴, 使满意, 喜欢, 寻欢作乐

idioms:

at your pleasure 随你的便
my pleasure 我愿意, 别客气

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 愉快, 高興, 樂事, 滿足, 樂趣
adj. - 愉快的, 高興的
v. tr. - 使高興, 使滿意
v. intr. - 高興, 喜歡, 尋歡作樂

idioms:

at your pleasure 隨你的便
my pleasure 我願意, 別客氣

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 기쁨, 영광, 만족
adj. - 사업보다는 유희에 쓰고자 하는
v. tr. - 만족시키다
v. intr. - 즐기다

idioms:

at your pleasure 하고 싶은 대로

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 楽しみ, 喜び, 悦楽, 都合, 娯楽
v. - 楽しむ, 楽しませる

idioms:

at your pleasure 好きな時に

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) سرور, بهجه, ملذة, ططيب, رغد العيش‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תענוג(ות), הנאה, רצון, תשוקה‬
adj. - ‮של תענוג‬
v. tr. - ‮עינג‬
v. intr. - ‮נהנה, התענג‬

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	Bonnard, Pierre (Quotes By)
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pleasure

pleas·ure

pleasure

pleasure

pleasure

pleasure

pleasure

pleasure

Pleasure

pleasure

Pleasure

Philosophical views

Philosophies of pleasure

Neurobiology

Pleasure as a uniquely human experience

Masochism

See also

References

Further reading

Pleasure