Seeking pleasure, above all / by kevin murray

While there is something to be said about desiring pleasure in the sense that those things that make us feel good have their place; so too, there is that false lure of believing that pleasure, above all, should be the motivating force in our lives.  That is to say, those that purposely avoid all those important things, inconvenient things, and responsibilities that would distract oneself or would stymie oneself in the pursuit of a certain pleasure, because to recognize such, would mean the rightful acknowledgement that we each have obligations and responsibilities to others, have taken this particular view, because they desire not to willingly give up that particular pleasure.

 

So that, pleasure seeking for some, becomes something that supersedes their appropriate responsibilities and obligations that they have to others.  As misguided to pursue as that may be, what is even more troubling, is those that in order to get their pleasure, compromise their own ethics, and even worse, compromise other people's values, in order to get that pleasure, no matter the real cost.  Therefore, the pleasure principle overrides considerations of good conscience, of doing the right thing, and of keeping things in perspective; because that pleasure, for that moment, rules their mind, and therefore those others that they need in order to have their pleasure, become thereby objectified for that pleasure.

 

Again, it isn't that desiring pleasure is so wrong, it is only when the pursuit of pleasure, overrides our good conscience that such is wrong; and this is especially deplorable when such is done in an underhanded way against others, all for our selfish benefit, and without fully taking into account, that other people, have not been created, to personally satisfy what our particular cravings may be.  This would indicate that pleasure seeking, without reasonable constraints and without the necessary consent by the other, is clearly selfish; whereas pleasure seeking, in which both parties are voluntarily on the same page, has its dutiful place.

 

The fact that we often feel good when doing certain pleasurable things provides the apparent reinforcement that such must be okay.  To the extent, that we still feel the same way in hindsight, afterwards, would again seem to indicate that such is okay.  On the other hand, if in order to obtain that general good feeling, we are at first obligated to addle our mind through drugs, drink, or something similar, then this would strongly imply that our good conscience is troubled by what we are doing and the very contemplation of such, which is why we therefore turn to those substances to basically suppress our good mind.

 

When we discount our good conscience, in order to have that pleasure, such may typically become classified as a "guilty pleasure," because ultimately we are not completely comfortable with that activity that occurred.  To then, ignore those pricks to our good conscience, or to drown such out by drugs or drink, is indicative that our pursuit of that particular pleasure is fundamentally not right.  This would clearly indicate, that our pursuit of pleasure should be constrained within a window that takes into account, that responsibilities and obligations left behind to pursue such pleasures, are going to eventually exact a price from us, that we probably will not ultimately desire to have to pay.