Self-harm either contradicts or embodies some theories of hedonism. As self-harm builds pleasure internally while drowning out one’s inner turmoil, it contradicts the Philosophy of Cyrenaics, the position that pleasure comes from moral actions. However, inflicting harm on one’s body to get what one wants is not moral at all especially since it violates the Lord’s view that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, nor does it generate physical pleasure. Moreover, in the philosophy, pleasure was the supreme good as is in self-harm, but it put more emphasis on physical pleasure, which is not the case if we looked at the psychological explanation for the effects of self-harm.
It is also against the ethical theory of hedonism which deals with right and wrong and moral judgments all for the same reason. Proposed by the British philosophers John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, the 19th Century ethical theory of Utilitarianism believes that the moral worth of any action is depends on whether it contributed well in escalating happiness or pleasure of everyone. The same philosophers concluded that we should perform "the greatest good for the greatest number.
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It is usually associated with egoism or the proposition that people should always pursue their own good in all things. In hedonistic egoism, every individual should do whatever that is necessary to maintain his/her source of happiness. In other words, to get the highest net pleasure, individuals should not care about others and their pain, and such an act is fine. This approach suggests that self-harmers are not guilty of doing something wrong despite not caring about their physical pain, the consequences of self-harming, how their family and friends might feel about the act, and what the society might think and just do whatever it takes, even inflict physical pain to themselves to experience pleasure – a behavior that other people may deem
Hedonism is the different theories about what is good for humans, what motivate us to behave and how we should do it, all of the hedonistic theories catalog pleasure and pain as the most important element of the life of a human being. Hedonists states that all the pleasure you can feel as a human, is intrinsically valuable and pain is intrinsically not valuable, by intrinsically we mean essential, necessary. the Pleasure Machine most known as The Experience machine is a thoughtful experiment proposed by Robert Nozick in his book Anarchy, State and Utopia (1974), that propose humans to imagine a machine that can give you whatever you can desire or unlimited pleasure experiences and then asks you which one would you choose whether your real life or get plugged-in on the machine. This experiment may seem as a good option for any human considering the actual situation of the world and each person problems, and it makes sense: no problems, unhappiness or injustice. I would never enter the Nozick’s Experience Machine nor any human should, for certain reasons such as: Doing things rather than experience them, We want to be someone, and it limits us to what we can make.
Mill and Kant have opposite idea and they support different moral philosophies. Mill exactly suppose the idea of social thinking, namely he claims that everyone attach an importance to other human beings. However, Kant considers that selfishness reflect people’s characteristics, in other words, each person should pay attention to themselves not others, because the most important thing for them is themselves. Kant also highlight that people can only behave in a good manner, if they have good will. In other words, Kant attach an importance to people’s instinct or characteristics, Mill gives weight to promoting happiness and dissolution of the pain.
Although many acts are selfish and only for ones own best interest, not every act is this way. Altruism exits, and the severity of ones own altruism is dependent on each and every person and their situations. A psychological egoist might adapt a slightly different view of egoism, “predominant egoism:” we act unselfishly only rarely, and then typically where the sacrifice is small and the gain to others is large or where those benefiting are friends, family, or favorite causes (Kavka). A psychological egoist may then chose to support Ethical Egoism; believing even if people don 't act selfishly all the time, they ought to do so for their own
Hedonism and the desire-satisfaction theory of welfare are typically seen as archrivals in the contest over identifying what makes one’s life better. It is surprising, then, that the most plausible form of hedonism is desire satisfactionism. The hedonism theory focuses on pleasure/happiness while the desire-satisfaction theory elucidates the relevance of fulfilling our desires. Pleasure, in some points of view is the subjective satisfaction of desire. I will explain the similarities and the differences between the desire-satisfaction theory of value and hedonism.
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that focuses on outcomes and consequences. When one considers the theory of utilitarianism, it must be understood that the pleasure is a fundamental moral good and the aim is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. So, when a human is going through the decision making process it is of the utmost importance to look forward at the consequences of the decision and determine if the decision will maximize pleasure and minimize pain. John Stuart Mill, a nineteenth century philosopher focused on the theory of utilitarianism or the Greatest Happiness Principle and claimed that the maximization of happiness for the greatest quantity of people is the ultimate goal. One issue that we face in modern day America that
I chose to review the fifth chapter of “New Ideas From Dead Economists” titled The Stormy Mind of John Stuart Mill. John Stuart Mill was born in 1806 in London to two strict parents who began to educate their son at a very young age. Mill’s father was James Mill, a famous historian and economist, who began to teach his son Greek at the age of three. The book reports that “by eight, the boy had read Plato, Xenophon, and Diogenes” and by twelve “Mill exhausted well-stocked libraries, reading Aristotle and Aristophanes and mastering calculus and geometry” (Buchholz 93). The vast amount of knowledge that Mill gained at a young age no doubt assisted him in becoming such a well-recognized philosopher and economist.
1. Utilitarianism Philosopher View (Jeremy Bentham & John Mill) Utilitarianism theory was founded by Jeremy Bentham and then got expanded by John Mill who came up with the 2 types or forms of Utilitarianism which are Act Utilitarianism and Rule Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism says an action is right if it tends to promote happiness, and wrong if it tends to produce the reverse of happiness and doesn’t just involve the happiness of the performer of the action but also that of everyone affected by it.
John Stuart Mill, at the very beginning of chapter 2 entitled “what is utilitarianism”. starts off by explaining to the readers what utility is, Utility is defined as pleasure itself, and the absence of pain. This leads us to another name for utility which is the greatest happiness principle. Mill claims that “actions are right in proportions as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” “By Happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain, by happiness, pain and the privation of pleasure”.
Introduction In this essay, I will be comparing Deontology to Utilitarianism. I will attempt to substantiate why I am justified in arguing that Deontology is a superior moral theory than Utilitarianism. A Discussion of the Main Elements of Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a moral theory developed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1947 – 1832) and refined by fellow countryman John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873).
The two moral reasonings are consequentialist and categorical. Consequentialist means the consequences that will result after whatever you do, whether it is the right or wrong thing to do. Categorical moral reasoning locates morality in certain duties and rights. Somethings are just morally wrong even if it brings good outcomes. According to Mill the principle of utility means realizing a consequence of something before you do it,whether your intentions are good or bad.
In Itself states that people should act in a certain way that you always treat humanity and always consider them as an end but never as mere means. This moral theory opposes to Utilitarianism, which supports the “greatest happiness principle”. According to “greatest happiness principle” people ought to act in such a way that produce the greatest amount of happiness for the
Utilitarianism is a teleological ethical theory based on the idea that an action is moral if it causes the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. The theory is concerned with predicted consequences or outcomes of a situation rather than focusing on what is done to get to the outcome. There are many forms of utilitarianism, having been introduced by Jeremy Bentham (act utilitarianism), and later being updated by scholars such as J.S. Mill (rule utilitarianism) and Peter Singer (preference utilitarianism). When referring to issues of business ethics, utilitarianism can allow companies to decide what to do in a given situation based on a simple calculation. Many people would agree that this idea of promoting goodness
When a person advances in using self-harm and learns how to control themselves to the point they stop, in many cases, they go back to self -harm in the future. “The first time they hurt themselves, they experience unpleasant pain. But when they keep doing it and experience pain relief, they begin to associate cutting or other forms of self-injury with relief, and they return for more”(DeAngelis 58). The reason they go back to committing self-harm is because it once worked for them when they had a problem going on in their life. They already know how it feels, how it makes them feel, and what it will do for them.
Self-harm can make “real” the emotional pain an individual cannot express, giving it an outlet. Moreover, (Stanley, B, Gameroff, M. J, Michalsen, V, & Mann, J. J, 2001)wrote, Individuals who self-injure often have suffered sexual, emotional, or physical abuse from someone within families such as a parent or sibling. This often results loss or disruption of the