Defining Pleasure for Hedonism: Lessons from Science

Dan TurtonVictoria University of Wellington

Plan

• Theory– Classical/Quantitative/Value/Default/

Benthamite/Old Skool Hedonism– Felt-Quality, Hedonic Tone theory of pleasure

• Problem– The heterogeneity problem

• Solution– Pleasure feels good– Scientific support for hedonic tone theories

Classical Hedonism about Well-Being

• Well-being• Pleasure is the only

bearer of intrinsic value in a life

• Opposite for pain• Pleasure and pain are

sensations – they have a felt quality

• NOT ‘folk hedonism’

Felt-Quality Theories of Pleasure

• Distinctive Feeling theories• Hedonic Tone theories• Every feeling/sensation has a valence

– Positive, neutral or negative

• Which affects well-being correspondingly– Improves, doesn’t change or worsens

• Note: the hedonic tone is felt/experienced

The Heterogeneity Problem

• Henry Sidgwick (1907):– There is no common ‘felt’ feature in

diverse pleasurable experiences

• E.g. sex vs. schadenfraude• So, Felt-Quality theories were

largely abandoned • The value was taken out of the

sensation– Attitudinal pleasures– Motivational theories of pleasure– Preference-satisfaction accounts

The Kind of Solution Required

• Unify pleasure’s diversity• Is useful for Hedonism

– Is obviously good in itself

• Is compatible with folk concept of pleasure• Is compatible with best science• Is useful for Hedonistic Utilitarianism

– Is theoretically measurable and inter-personally comparable

Motivational Theories of Pleasure – (MTP)

• Sidgwick, Brandt, Alston, Carson• Heathwood:

– A sensation is a sensory pleasure iff it is contemporaneously desired for its own sake

– But, not everything that is desired is a sensory pleasure

• Two problems1) How do we distinguish between pleasures and

non-pleasures?2) No role for pleasure in explaining motivation!?!

Feldman’s Attitudinal Pleasure

• Sensory pleasure = feeling “mmmmmm”/good – Intrinsically worthless

• Attitudinal pleasure = being pleased about something/enjoying it– The only thing of intrinsic

value

• E.g. the happy accident victim

Assessing Attitudinal Pleasure

• Unifies pleasure’s diversity

• Is useful for Hedonism

• Is compatible with folk concept of pleasure

• Is compatible with best science

• Is useful for Hedonistic Utilitarianism

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Recent Findings in Science 1

• “Pleasure is never merely a sensation”– Berridge & Kringelbach 2008, p459

• Reward = wanting liking & learning• Wanting and liking are dissociable• Wanting by itself seems a-pleasurable• Liking by itself seems pleasurable

Behavioural Liking & Disliking

Causing Ratty Pleasure (‘Liking’)

Recent Findings in Science 2

• The ‘liking’ circuitry uses opioids, cannabinoids & benzodiazepines

• The brain mechanisms for fundamental pleasures are probably the same for higher pleasures

• All experiences are coded with hedonic gloss

• Sometimes we become aware of this

From Sensation to Subjective Pleasure

Sensory input

Primary sensory cortices: Cortical represen-tations created

Sense organs

Posterior OFC: Multi-modal integration

Anterior OFC: Reward value assigned

Lateral anterior OFC: Influences behaviour

Medial anterior OFC: Stored for learning

Mid-anterior OFC: Made available for subjective hedonic experience

?????????????: Conscious experience of pleasure

My Solution

• A Hedonic Tone theory• A scientifically grounded version of The

Feels Good Theory of pleasure• Pleasure (enjoyment) = Being aware of +ve

hedonic gloss• Pain (suffering) = Being aware of -ve

hedonic gloss• Being aware• Hedons

– Duration– Felt Intensity (awareness * intensity)

Assessing My Simple Pleasure

• Unifies pleasure’s diversity

• Is useful for Hedonism

• Is compatible with folk concept of pleasure

• Is compatible with best science

• Is useful for Hedonistic Utilitarianism

Recap

• The Problem• Feldman’s solution:

– Attitudinal pleasure

• My solution– A Hedonic Tone theory– Pleasure (enjoyment) = Being aware of

positive hedonic gloss– Pain (suffering) = Being aware of negative

hedonic gloss