Hedonism

Hedonism is a school of philosophy which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. I'm a believer in the form of altruistic hedonism which places the ideal of the society above the selfishness of the individual. In other words, don't do something that causes pain to others.

To this end, consider the role of pain in human development. Pain is a defense mechanism that teaches people how to avoid harmful situations. As a corollary, pleasure begets healthy situations.

I'd like to posit a question, "What is the role of marriage within these discussions?" Marriages contain pleasure, both of the selfish variety as well as the altruistic type, and pain. High divorce rates prove that pain oftentimes overwhelms the pleasure involved within a marriage. Then again, the pleasure of having a partner exceeds the pain associated with loneliness. It's worth discussion in a separate context why it's become socially acceptable to choose only one partner rather than two or more. My guess would be that differences of opinion within a polygamous relationship arise more frequently and with more ferocity than during traditional monogamous relationships. Also, the likelihood for jealousy to occur seems (to me) to be increased with polygamy.

In any case, marriages between two individuals serve to advance the pleasure of each. However, I think there's a more fundamental reason why making a lifelong commitment to another person has been integrated into our religious and political systems of law. Two people, when entrusted with the life of a newborn member of the species, behave completely altruistically towards that miniature person. And that's where the hedonistic pursuit of pleasure has led to a triumph of the human spirit.

Then another question is raised, "What happens to children who are forsaken by their parents in a way that causes them more pain than pleasure?" I'm not sure, but I'd figure that people like that either promise themselves that they'll do better with their own kids than their parents did with them, or they decide never to have kids of their own. I suppose the common sense follows pretty easily that nobody would set out to do a worse job than their parents did at raising their kids. In any case, either self-motivated, determined parents or dissuaded non-parents seem like a step in the right direction for me to continue the species.

I mean, it's a helluva lot more complicated than that but this simplistic view of marriage is somewhat enlightening. Unanswered questions remain including why certain animals (for example, a pride of lions) have their own traditions regarding their lifelong partners? Also, how does hedonism within society apply outside the covenant of marriage? These questions for another time. That's all I have for today.