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Hedonism
I. What is
Cyrenaic Hedonism?
Hedonism is an
ethical system that maintains that pleasure is the highest good in life.
There were two main groups of Hedonists in the ancient world. The first
group, the Cyrenaics, believed that only the pleasures of the body were
important for happiness, while the second group, the Epicureans thought that
the pleasures of the mind were ultimately more important than those of the
body. We will return to Epicureanism later in the course. For now
let's focus on the cruder  type of hedonism espoused by the Cyrenaics.
The founder of
the Cyrenaic school was Aristippus, who was a disciple of
Socrates. He was born in Cyrene (hint: the School was named after
Aristippus' birthplace) in 435 BC, and died in Athens in 366 BC.
Aristippus' philosophy, while a bit simplistic, is actually one that many human
beings would probably agree with: he held that immediate pleasure is the
highest good in life and ought to be pursued for the sake of happiness, while
pain and suffering ought to be avoided at all costs.
He further
maintained that life itself is very short. We can neither live in the
past, nor in the future, but only in the present. The present, of
course, is this moment that we are living right NOW. Rather than living
one's life in pursuit of honors or wealth or even wisdom (all which either
existed in a past long gone or which may or may not exist in an uncertain
future), we should focus instead on those immediate
goods which we have available to us right
now: the enjoyment of sensual
pleasure.
Not only are
immediate sensual pleasures thought by Aristippus to be best, but he also
rejected the idea that the duration of
pleasures was significant. The brevity of pleasures, he felt,
does not take away from their worth, and the aim of life was to have as
many pleasurable moments as we can.
The Cyrenaics
also believed that we ought to strive for the maximum
intensity in our pleasures, since the more intense the experience, the
more pleasurable it will be for the individual.
And finally, a
good hedonist would always aim at having as much diversity
as possible in the pleasures that he pursues. Variety is, after all, the
spice of life. After a while drinking the same wine, eating the same
kinds of foods, and sleeping with the same kinds of people can become
boring. We must, then, shake things up a bit, occasionally going for
exotic--and perhaps even dangerous--pleasures. (I'll leave you to figure out
exactly how this might be accomplished.)
The Cyrenaics
made no distinction (as Epicurus later would) between better or worse pleasures.
They were only concerned with how (1) immediate, (2) physical, (3) brief, (4)
intense, and (5) diverse the pleasure we strive for. In this sense
being able to eat a rich and sumptuously prepared meal or spending a few
hours frolicking on a beautiful beach in the Caribbean are to be preferred to
such intangible pleasures as the enjoyment of intellectual contemplation or
stimulating conversation.
II. Hedonism in Greek
Poetry
You probably
are aware that the ancient Greeks were incredible playwrights and
philosophers. What you may not realize is that they were magnificent
poets as well. I've taken the liberty of compiling some of my
favorite poems from the Greek Anthology---a collection of poems and fragments
from the Greek speaking ancient world. What will immediately become
apparent to you is that almost all these poems are decidedly hedonist in
nature.
For Greek poets
of the ancient world, life is short, often brutal, and filled with pain,
suffering and death. It is the job of the clever human being, then, to
try to suck as much pleasure out of life as he can before he dies. Being
good hedonist, these poets were well aware that it is rather foolish to look
too far into the future for one's happiness, because there is no telling what
the future has in store for us. Instead what they advocate is
taking advantage of those physical pleasures that were readily available: good
food, great wine and lots of sex with as many different kinds of partners as
possible.
Be aware, as
you read these poems, that some of their content can be a bit racy. The
ancient Greeks were not prudes by any means. If you are easily
offended by off-color material, you have my permission to skip over the
following poems:
If you decide
to read these poems, I would like you to think about what insights they have
to offer about the hedonist's approach to human happiness. What concrete
steps might a good hedonist take to compensate for the misery and suffering
that is the usual lot of human beings?
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Department of
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© 2002, M. Russo
For more information contact: mrusso@molloy.edu
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