1. "HEDONISM"
TUAN SYARIFAH ALFA
ALIAA LIYANA TUAN ZAMRI
1129028

2. DEFINITION
• The belief that pleasure is the most important
thing in life
• The name derives from the Greek word for
"delight"
• hēdonē "pleasure"+ ism = HEDONISM

3. characteristics
 believes pleasure should play a central role in life
 likes tattoos, likes strip clubs,
 prone to substance abuse, prone to shoplifting,
 thinks marijuana should be legalized,
 Gay marriage celebrated
 not opposed to breaking laws,
 promiscuous,
 prone to cheat in relationships, kinky,

4. characteristics
 likes to dress provocatively,
 willing to break the law if the monetary benefit is
great enough,
 can be crude,
 believes religion is foolish,
 does not worry about consequences of actions,
 addictive tendencies,
 more a night person than a day person,

5. characteristics
erotic,
more likely to have been on anti-depressants,
 gets attention through negative behavior,
 reckless with money,
prone to nihilism,
unpredictable, self destructive

6. TYPES
1. Psychological
(a) Motivational hedonism
 is the claim that only pleasure or pain
motivates us
 most significant form of psychological
hedonism.

7. (b) Normative Hedonism
• is the claim that all and only pleasure has worth or
value, and all and only pain has disvalue.
• Jeremy Bentham endorsed both sorts of hedonism in
his An Introduction to the Principles of
Morals and Legislation:
“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two
sovereign masters, pain, and pleasure. It is for them
alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to
determine what we shall do” (Bentham 1789)

8. Normative Hedonism
Pleasure Pain
understood broadly, include all unpleasant
to include all pleasant feeling or experience:
feeling or experience, aches, throbs, irritations,
such as elation, anxiety, anguish,
ecstacy, delight, joy, chagrin, discomfort,
and enjoyment. despair, grief,
depression, guilt and
remorse

9. 2.Ethical hedonism
• is the view that our fundamental moral obligation is to
maximize pleasure or happiness.
• Ethical hedonism is most associated with the ancient Greek
philosopher Epicurus who taught that our life's goal should
be to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. In fact, all of
our actions should have that aim:
• In A Letter to Menoeceus -Epicurus explains how we can
reduce the psychological anguish that results from fearing
the gods and fearing death.
• Concerning the nature of pleasure, Epicurus explains that at
least some pleasures are rooted in natural and, as a rule,
every pain is bad and should be avoided, and every pleasure
is good and should be preferred.

10. History & Development
1. Sumerian civilization
• In the original Old Babylonian version of the Epic of
Gilgamesh, Siduri gave the following advice
"Fill your belly. Day and night make
merry. Let days be full of joy. Dance and
make music day and night [...] These
things alone are the concern of men",
• represent the first recorded advocacy of a hedonistic
philosophy.

11. Ancient Egyptian Civilisation
• Harper's Songs
• Scenes of a harper entertaining guests at a feast was
common in ancient Egyptian tombs 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.

12. Cārvāka
• was an Indian hedonist school of thought that arose
approximately 600 BCE, and died out in the 14th
century CE.
• The Cārvākas maintained that the Hindu scriptures
are false, that the priests are liars, and that there is
no afterlife, and that pleasure should be the aim of
living.
• Unlike other Indian schools of philosophy, the
Cārvākas argued that there is nothing wrong with
sensual indulgence.
• They held a naturalistic worldview.

13. Islamic Perspective
Whosoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We give him increase in his
reward, and whosoever desires the reward of this world, We give him
thereof, and he has no portion in the Hereafter ( As –Syuraa :20)
O my people, this worldly life is only [temporary] enjoyment, and indeed, the
Hereafter - that is the home of [permanent] settlement. (Surat Ghāfir : 39)
“Are you pleased with the life of this world rather than the hereafter. But
little is the enjoyment of the life of this world as compared to the hereafter.”
(At-Tawbah:38)