eatest pleasure and happiness, or the least pain andsuffering, in the long term for all concerned. McDonald 35. Our lives are made most happy and fulfilling bycultivating the higher pleasures of intellectualdevelopment, aesthetic appreciation and creativity, andsocial bonds of friendship, family and romantic love. 6. Happiness is best attained in an atmosphere offreedom, tolerance, nonviolence and diversity. The Hedonic society also states that the ethics of enlightened hedonism is a positive, dynamic and life-affirming alternative to traditional religious andpolitical dogmas.In today's terms, when you hear someone speak ofhedonism, your mind automatically goes to associatingsex, orgasms, and all other types of physical pleasurewith the term hedonism. The important thing to keep inmind, however is that hedonism does not just includephysical pleasure. It is possible to strive to achievehappiness and excitement, and at the same time avoidsadness and anxiety. This is also a hedonistic way ofthought. Hedonism is not the pursuit purely physical. It is possible to be intellectually hedonistic as well.And, Hedonism is not based solely on the individual. Itis to be the greatest amount of good possible for thegreatest amount of people. McDonald 4So just because you want to something, and fulfillyour original desire/want/need, doesn't mean that it isright to do it. You have to take into account whatwould benefit others as well. "By each of us goingimmediately for that which we most want, which wouldgive us the most pleasure, is for the greatest possiblegood to be accomplished...(Stanford)."Mill says that the ideal way to be is a little bitof both physically and intellectually hedonistic. Heintroduces the Competent Judge Test (CJT) to battlecommon objections he faces against hedonisticutilitarianism. The objection stems from thephilosophical controversy between bodily (eating,drinking, and sex, but also things like exercise) andin...
