Hedonism.

[Distruzio]

Ever hear of economic crashes and bank panics? Yes? Banks that rely on leveraging inevitably over-leverage themselves and collapse, taking our economy with them. Hence, hedonism, and spending money you don't have, is bad.

But it also allows for the initial boom which makes the bad times look bad...

Anyway, I wasn't arguing for the good or bad of it, merely that one needn't have accumulated anything to spend, certainly not in equal portions (spending=accumulation).

My mistake. I assumed that arguing that money could be printed as an argument that money should be printed out of then air. Apologies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk&feature=share

[Lackadaisical2]

But it also allows for the initial boom which makes the bad times look bad...

Anyway, I wasn't arguing for the good or bad of it, merely that one needn't have accumulated anything to spend, certainly not in equal portions (spending=accumulation).

My mistake. I assumed that arguing that money could be printed as an argument that money should be printed out of then air. Apologies.

Is=/=ought and all that, naturally.

[Lackadaisical2]

But it also allows for the initial boom which makes the bad times look bad...

Anyway, I wasn't arguing for the good or bad of it, merely that one needn't have accumulated anything to spend, certainly not in equal portions (spending=accumulation).

My mistake. I assumed that arguing that money could be printed as an argument that money should be printed out of then air. Apologies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk&feature=share

Thats harsh on Keynes, he actually recommended having savings readily available for when recession hits, as opposed to a constant deficit, iirc.

Basically tempering both the bubble and the bust.

[The Parkus Empire]

Not really a fan of a BNW style society.

[Trotskylvania]

I might as well be a monk for how much I care for creature comforts, so I guess that gives you my opinion on hedonism

[Meridiani Planum]

So, people of NSG, what are your views on hedonism?

I'm all for hedonism... in moderation.

I'm not philosophically hedonist in that I don't see pleasure as the essence or standard of the good. But I do see pleasure as _a_ good, and so one should use one's best judgment to include pleasures in one's life in beneficial ways.

Should society focus more on delayed or immediate gratification?

Individuals should use their best judgment to understand when to delay gratification, and when to seize the day! There is no pre-packaged answer on this issue, as if it always has to be one or the other.

What do you think about the even of caring/worrying/ having concern about the state of society?

I don't think that one should worry more than is needed to make decisions. Worry is a useful signal that tells you to think and plan about something, but when worry becomes an endless cycle, this is not likely to be helpful.

[Kongra]

Where do people get the idea that hedonism automatically means immediate gratification? Hedonism, in it's purest form, is the maximization of pleasure which includes the net measurement of pleasure vs pain. A prudent hedonist would not choose immediate gratification (borrowing for consumption) if he knows it will create net pain in the future (paying off a mountain of debt). Therefore, capitalism and hedonism are not incompatible.

As for what I think of hedonism, I guess I would label myself a hedonist. I value the maximization of happiness and I have a difficult time seeing the difference between that and pleasure. I guess a more religious person would be able to draw better lines between happiness and pleasure.

[The Last Hope for Bees]

I am very hedonistic. It just so happens that many of the things I take pleasure from are seen as unusual by some.

[Caecili]

I've never actually researched hedonism before, but after some light googling I would say that I definitely agree with the philosophy. Even acts of charity are only done because we derive pleasure from helping others. Every choice we make ultimately boils down to which will result in the most pleasure and the least pain, physically and psychologically speaking.

As for instant or delayed gratification, delayed is definitely more satisfying.

[Josh Sinister]

YES!
I'm so glad this thread exists.

Pleasure is the only intrinsic value life has to offer; just think about it. What other point is there? Isn't stability and pleasure what we all want?

I am totally a Hedonist. Anyone who says that life has some other value other than pleasure is crazy.

[Make up your own mind]

I've never actually researched hedonism before, but after some light googling I would say that I definitely agree with the philosophy. Even acts of charity are only done because we derive pleasure from helping others. Every choice we make ultimately boils down to which will result in the most pleasure and the least pain, physically and psychologically speaking.

As for instant or delayed gratification, delayed is definitely more satisfying.

I think pleasure and pain are used as a sort of catch-all for every kind of motivation. It gets to a point where saying that all our choices are based on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain is like saying we prefer our preferences. It's true, but does it change anything?

[Angleter]

No, let's not.

[Vecherd]

Hedonism is the best things since skimmed milk.. Well maybe since Corevette 1989.

[Hellsgrind]

As a Socialist, I'm against Hedonism.

[Ragnarsdomr]

Are we talking about purely physical pleasure, or are we talking about Epicureanism? Because I can totally support the idea of hedonism if the pleasures proposed are those of debating philosophical ideas underneath a tree with one's good friends, or the pleasure of knowing you just accomplished a goal you'd longed to complete.

I'm just not so into the idea of complete and utter servitude to one's base desires. Spending all my money on that fetish club down the street just doesn't appeal to me, oddly enough.


As to whether it's feasible, not so for a large society. Perhaps for a few at the top, enslaving the rest for their pleasure, as we've seen in a number of cases, but for a whole society, it cannot be done. Moderation is the only way in which a large society can survive with a single, over-arching virtue.