Hedonism in Terms of Philosophy - Essay Example

How can hedonism claim to be a universal philosophy when its foundations are weak and merely transitory at best? An enjoyment of pleasure by the senses is at best temporary and as people age, their enjoyment of such pleasures diminish, in a case of diminishing returns. Is it a valid argument to claim hedonism when a person is already old or infirm? Further, a sense of pleasure is a very subjective matter, and what are the standards by which to measure it in its exact terms or magnitude? Can subjective feelings be accurate measurements when there is a plurality in all kinds of pleasures?. A more basic question is how hedonists can know for certain that there is no afterlife when no person has come back from the dead?

Is hedonism able to claim that as an alternative lifestyle or philosophy of life, it is an epistemic normative theory that all people ought to believe in when others doubt its validity? Is pleasure the sole purpose of life or is man destined for other greater things in the universe?Hedonism commits a so-called naturalistic fallacy. This means the claim of pleasure as something that is natural and therefore is right or morally correct does not always follow in the same line of reasoning of what is moral or ethical.

This is the argument put forward by the philosopher George Moore who said that equating pleasure with something good, natural, desired or pleasant is a fallacy; the critics of hedonism had pointed out the senses are not intended for physical pleasures alone.