Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Aristotle on Pleasure

According to Aristotle, there are two types of pleasure. Pleasure of the soul and pleasure of the body. Pleasure of the soul deals with study and honor while pleasure of the body deals with senses and condition, condition meaning touch and sense. When it comes to study there is no excess of pleasure. Honor may be something that you have too much pleasure in. Aristotle continues by claiming that pleasure is not a transformation of a state from one to another. Pleasure is a sign of our state, completes an activity. That is to say with every activity we complete we receive a type of pleasure. To connect pleasure to virtue, virtuous acts produce a type of pleasure that further enables us to act virtuous.
Along with being a sign of the state of our soul, pleasure is socially determined. A point that is very valid, even in modern day. What is seen as pleasurable will be defined by those around us. But the most valid point made by Aristotle is the fact that pleasures are not a process. They don't lead to our completeness, only happiness can lead to our completeness. Pleasures are merely accompany activities. With virtuous acts come pleasures and even though pleasures is not the most important aspect, it is essential because life in itself is an activity and since pleasures perfect our activities, they are essential to life.