An Introductory Study of Ethics
by Warner Fite
Format: Paperback
ISBN13: 9781458809544
Paperback|9781458809544
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III EMPIRICAL HEDONISM: THE ETHICS OF HAPPINESS 1. GENERAL STATEMENT The hedonistic view is thus stated by Mill: The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion 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 unhappiness, pain, and the privation of pleasure. To give a clear view of the moral standard set up by the theory, much more requires to be said; in particular what things it includes in the ideas of pain and pleasure; and to what extent this is left an open question. But these supplementary questions do not affect the theory of life on which the theory of morality is grounded namely, that pleasure, and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things (which are as numerous in the utilitarian as in any other scheme) are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain. But the search for happiness is often complicated by the presence of alternatives, each of which promises happiness or freedom from pain, while at the same time the happiness obtained from one source will involve pain and unhappiness from the other. I wish to enjoy my cup of coffee at dinner and yet to sleep comfortably afterward; or to enjoy my eveningpaper or novel in privacy and quiet, yet not to exclude the other members of the household from the common sitting- room. It is the presence of these conflicting alternatives which constitutes the moral problem. According to hedonism, the solution lies in the selection of that course which offers the textit{{greater pleasure. I ought...
| ISBN-13 | 9781458809544 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 1458809544 |
| Weight | 0.90 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.62 In |
| List Price | $21.42 |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 274 pages |
| Publisher | |
| Published On | 2009-07-01 |
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