Hedonism

HEDONISM, HEDONIA (from Greek hedone-pleasure), an ethical doctrine that recognizes pleasure as the highest good and purpose of life. Often, however, these terms are also used to denote the corresponding practical life orientation. In a vulgar understanding, a hedonist is a person who does not think about choosing means to achieve sensual pleasure and at the same time knows how to find appropriate or apt words to defend their behavior; in the understanding of the founding philosophers of H. (Aristippus, Epicurus, Bentham), it is a person who knows how to find the best side in any situation and through limiting their desires, through reasonableness and self-control, to ensure themselves calmness and contentment. In psychopathological literature, the word "hedonia" is sometimes used as equivalent to euphoria (see): heightened pleasant self-feeling, sensation of extreme satisfaction; sometimes, in the latter sense, the term hyperhedonia is used, to which hypohedonia is opposed - lowered self-feeling colored by unpleasant emotions.