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The Value of Heterogeneous Pleasures

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  • Andrew Alwood

    (Virginia Commonwealth University)

Abstract

Pleasure is one of the most obvious candidates for directly improving wellbeing. Hedonists claim it is the only feature that can intrinsically make life better for the one living it, and that all of wellbeing derives from the relative pleasantness and unpleasantness of conscious experience. But Hedonism is incompatible with the ‘heterogeneity’ of pleasure: it cannot allow that distinct pleasures can feel completely differently, if experiences count as pleasant due to how they feel. I argue that a pluralistic variant of Hedonism can match its theoretical attractions while also accommodating the heterogeneity of pleasure. This has interesting implications for both the philosophical debate over the nature of wellbeing and psychological theories of how to measure and aggregate positive affect. In particular, my argument implies that there is no single dimension of ‘valence’ or ‘intensity’ on which pleasantness can be measured.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Alwood, 2018. "The Value of Heterogeneous Pleasures," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(8), pages 2303-2314, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:19:y:2018:i:8:d:10.1007_s10902-017-9924-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-017-9924-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Labukt, Ivar, 2012. "Hedonic Tone and the Heterogeneity of Pleasure," Utilitas, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 172-199, June.
    2. Anna Alexandrova, 2005. "Subjective Well-Being and Kahneman’s ‘Objective Happiness’," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 301-324, September.
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