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Should we seek pleasure?

Yes, provided that you add a dimension to the pleasure-seeking dimension mastery of the ego And search for minimality.

In addition, it is important to sort through the pleasures and favor the simplest ones. See on this subject the feelings dimension exposed in the answer to the question 'How to succeed in life?'.

The hedonistic illusion

Once the search for pleasure is no longer accompanied by a search for minimality, but on the contrary by a search for the most intense sensations, we shift into hedonism. This, although glorified in capitalist society, particularly in advertising, presents several problems:

•	The need for intense pleasures is often a sign that they serve to hide deep unhappiness. Seeking to satisfy this need means trying to keep the lid on, instead of trying to identify and treat the underlying discomfort. We're not moving forward.

•	When the same pleasure is repeated, there is a phenomenon of addiction, so more sensations are always needed to obtain the same pleasure, as with certain drugs.

•	Going towards more sophisticated pleasures requires greater financial means, therefore favors a shift towards a goal of material success above all, with the game of alliances as the main tool to achieve this, and therefore the stress associated with it.

Pleasure only leads to happiness to the extent that it helps us move forward. Pleasure does not transform into happiness by accumulation.

The frustration

Frustration is an essential element of psychological life, which limits the development of pleasure. Without accepted frustration, it is savagery that governs human relations, most often in the form of the law of the strongest.

Quotes

Epicurus, Capital Maxim VIII: “No pleasure is in itself evil; but the productive causes of certain pleasures also bring much more disturbances than the pleasures.

Go deeper

View the questions:
Should you listen to your emotions?
Why do you need to control your ego?
Why is minimality desirable?
How to succeed in life?
Also consult the classification of pleasures proposed by the philosopher Epicurus.

Chapter 22'Citizenship, education and philosophy' from the book From capital to reason contrasts hedonistic pleasure and ataractic pleasure.

Regarding hedonism, see the film The great food by Marco Ferreri.

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