•A person who believes that happiness is a result of how much pleasure and pain we experience in our lives is called a hedonist. Are you a Hedonist, or do you believe there is more to happiness than maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain? If yes, what is the hedonist missing? Can you give a description of a happy life that is not also a pleasant one?
92 Comments
Anya
5/20/2015 01:48:30 am
I think part of happiness is accepting pain in our lives and realizing that it will not be a constant state of being. One can be happy yet not content with their surroundings. One can have a family and have love yet live in poverty and squalor so they strive for better conditions although they do not nessecarily lack happiness.
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Clair
5/20/2015 01:50:24 am
I agree with Anya, it is possible to be happy but not content with everything. Sometimes it takes pain in your life to make you realize what you should and should not be happy about. Pain is essential to growth as a person, but so is happiness.
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Thomas
5/20/2015 01:52:46 am
I agree. Sometimes pleasure is not an indicator of happiness. Happiness sometimes comes from unexpected places, even painful ones. Pain and pleasure coexist.
Karla
5/21/2015 01:57:48 am
I agree with Clair. Pain is essential for a person to grow as well as happiness. One must experience both because that's the way of life. There's good and bad in everything, and from those things we should learn and grow.
Kayla
5/21/2015 03:25:34 am
I agree with Clair and Karla. We definately need a world with some sort of suffering to learn from it. If we lived in a world with no problems and then if somthing bad happened we wouldn't know how to handle it.
Sarah
5/21/2015 03:26:14 am
I agree with Clair you need to experience pain in order to know what true happiness is
Rosa
5/20/2015 01:57:33 am
I agree with Anya, you can't be happy with everything. There are things that you can't do anything about and they surround you and you have to put up with them. Pain is necessary to make you realize what things you appreciate and make you happy in life. I also agree with Clair because I believe that going through pain and loss is essential to grow as a person.
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Estefani
5/21/2015 01:56:14 am
I agree with Thomas and everyone else who agrees with Anya. Pain and pleasure coexist and it's the painful situations in our lives that make us appreciate the things we have.
Adriana
5/20/2015 03:24:18 am
I agree, you have to take te good with the bad.
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Emma b
5/20/2015 03:25:08 am
I agree with Anya because someone can be happy but not content. Even if they love their family and happy to have them you can not be content on how you can't give them everything they want. Happiness is accepting that pain and moving on to making things better
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Morgan
5/20/2015 03:27:40 am
I agree with Anya, the pain in our life results in happiness. We are able to accept the pain in order to experience the pleasure of happiness. Pain allows one to be grateful for what brings them happiness
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Rebecca Brown
5/21/2015 01:56:21 am
I agree with Anya, pain can result to happiness as long as people can accept their pain and turn it into happiness.
Joanna
5/21/2015 03:24:44 am
I agree with Morgan without pain i feel like you don't learn and, pain won't last forever the pleausure will come.
Robert
5/21/2015 01:55:03 am
i disagree with Anya as pain only makes me unhappy. Even though sometimes one may acquire happiness after going through pain yet no happiness comes from pain itself.
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Mandy M.
5/20/2015 01:48:55 am
I think that a person's life can be as happy as they are. Obviously it is easier to be happy if you lead a "pleasant" life, but even those who have what most would find unpleasant lives, they can still be happy.
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Becka
5/20/2015 03:24:08 am
I agree with Mandy, everyone has a different "normal" especially when it comes to emotion (ie happiness)
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naomi b
5/20/2015 01:49:39 am
I think the more happiness in your life, the greater the pain hurts when sadness or bad things come into it. I think that the hedonist is right on some aspects but missing other aspects because life is not as black and white. And a happy life that is not a pleasant one is someone getting out of the harsh conditions of their country and escaping hardship, but then having to struggle to start a new life.
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Tessa
5/20/2015 03:26:44 am
I agree with Naomi- if you generally live a pleasurable life, a painful event would hurt more than if you lived a generally painful life. Sometimes, however, pain is necessary to experience pleasure. ex) what Gannon said about an athlete experiencing pain while training so they could be better enjoying the sport they love.
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Vanessa
5/21/2015 01:59:23 am
I agree with naomi. Sometimes in order to be happy, you have to go through a painful experience and you often learn from it, and in the long run you will live a life full of happiness.
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Cole Lyons
5/20/2015 01:50:00 am
No I believe that pain is often necessary and sometimes can even result in a greater sense of happiness than actions of pure pleasure. For example, Mother Teresa did not live a pleasant life from the eyes of most other people. However, she was happy because she felt that the work that she was doing was greater than her own well being.
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Jesus
5/20/2015 01:52:11 am
I agree with your point. It is up to the individual and how he/she feels.
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Julia
5/20/2015 03:27:17 am
I agree, I believe sometimes unhappiness triggers us to strive for something better than what we know or are used to and may end up even more content than before.
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Jeffrey
5/21/2015 03:26:22 am
I agree with cole, having bad things, or pain, in your life makes other things seem better and make you happier in the long run
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Lily
5/20/2015 01:50:32 am
I wouldn't define myself as a strict Hedonist but I would rather have pleasure than pain. But sometimes you have to go through pain to get pleasure. You could have a great home life but a terrible job. In this case you have a happy life but not a pleasant life.
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Alo Alcala
5/20/2015 03:25:15 am
I agree with Lily, because it's true. To be able to experience happiness you have to go through pain and pleasure, though it does not mean you can't get it without one.
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Erica
5/21/2015 01:56:07 am
I agree with Lily. I think there is more to happiness than maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. Sometimes they come together or you have to go through pain to realize what really makes you happy.
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DaVon Browne
5/20/2015 01:50:51 am
I think I am a hedonist. A happy life can be seen in kids that don't have allot of money in third world countries but still find pleasure and happiness in their everyday lives.
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Jack Preston
5/20/2015 01:58:15 am
I agree with Davon, and furthermore, "happiness" and "pleasantness" is all relative. What one person may view as an unpleasant life by could be seen pleasant by another. In that way I think the two are correlated in that a person maybe be able to find happiness through the simple pleasures in their everyday life. However, another person may see the unpleasantries of that person's life out weighing the pleasantries. A person's happiness is testament to everyday enjoyment with their life.
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Anna Ely
5/20/2015 01:51:42 am
I believe that there is more to happiness than maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. I believe that a happy life is one where you are with those you love and when you are doing what you love. This may or may not be without pain depending on what it is you love doing. Like being a doctor may be something you love, but you will see people die, which is painful. But the amount saved would probably out weigh the pain those lost, making you happy. You can get pleasure from purchasing things, it's not really immortal. Happiness stays with you for longer periods of time and it comes from being content with yourself and your accomplishments.
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Alondra Espinoza
5/20/2015 03:28:51 am
I completely agree with Anna
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Michele
5/21/2015 01:57:15 am
I agree with you, that there is more to happiness than maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. For me, pleasure and pain are not measures of happiness. Happiness can be measured by one's ability to live in the moment, minimize regrets and guilt, and find joy in life everyday. Pleasure, such as money or sex, is probably more likely to make one unhappy, in fact.
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Carly
5/21/2015 02:02:32 am
I agree with Anna, and I think she illustrated her points well with examples. I think the relativity of what makes people happy makes this a difficult question to answer.
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Elia
5/21/2015 03:26:13 am
To some extent you definetly need a balance of both, you need some pain to appreciate happiness, however it doesn't have to define it. I definetly agree with Ana's examples, but strongly believe you need a mix of both personal and external experiences to be happy.
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Madison
5/20/2015 01:51:54 am
I wouldn't necessarily call myself a hedonist because I don't always choose the easiest and most pleasurable options in situations but at the same time I feel that often the less popular options that I choose are often the things that will contribute to bringing me long term happiness in my future even if they aren't immediately pleasurable and enjoyable.
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Mel Ico
5/20/2015 01:52:55 am
I guess on a very basic level, life is about maximizing happiness and pleasure and minimizing pain, whether it's for the long or short term. An example of a happy life that is not necessarily a pleasant life would be certain people who live in third-world countries who are content with what they have. To us it, their way of living may not seem very pleasant. To them, their way of living may be completely fine. It depends on the perspective.
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Paco Cortes
5/20/2015 01:53:05 am
You should definitely be happy in your life, but it's difficult to understand your happiness without suffering through pain. For example, you can be successful in sports but you wouldn't be in that position without making sacrifices
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Julio
5/20/2015 01:59:26 am
I agree. One must first know pain in order to understand what happiness really is.
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Clara
5/21/2015 01:58:06 am
I agree with Paco, happiness is important and anyone can find it if they try. But in order to find true happiness people need to suffer or go through something painful first.
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Alexander
5/20/2015 01:53:53 am
Pleasant and happy correlate. However, a happy person can live an unpleasant life, just as an unhappy person can live a pleasant life. Usually the two are interwoven.
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Landin
5/20/2015 01:54:28 am
Hedonists are missing the meaning of life. To have pleasure, and to minimize pain are only primal conditions most beings seek. However, true happiness is variable, it entirely depends on the individual.
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Macklin
5/21/2015 07:20:25 am
You're missing the meaning of life
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Caitlin
5/20/2015 01:54:44 am
Avoiding pain as much as possible will sometimes prevent one from living happily, and it can lead to an uneventful and low quality, but still somewhat stable life.
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Maraya
5/20/2015 01:55:01 am
Maraya 05/20/2015 08:54
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Conner
5/20/2015 01:56:11 am
I believe that I am a hedonist because I try and minimize the crappy aspects in life and try to make the best of situations. Also I believe that short term unhappiness can lead to longer term happiness like taking an AP class and studying for the test. In the short term it will be crappy and unpleasant but in the future, you will be able to look back on it and say "I passed that class" and it is a rewarding feeling in and of itself, which also brings happiness.
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Enrique Lopez-Segura
5/20/2015 01:56:54 am
I think that I would probably fall in the hedonist category, but I do agree that there is more to happiness than maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. The hedonist may be missing out on the simplicity of life without pursuing things of pleasure. People who live by this are Buddhist monks who simply spend a lot of time meditating in order to reach Nirvana.
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Stacy
5/20/2015 02:00:16 am
I think there is more to happiness than just maximizing pleasure and minimize pain. You need that pain in order to enjoy those pleasurable moments. If you're in a constant state of pleasure you forget that you're experiencing pleasure and it becomes a neutral state.
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Valentina
5/20/2015 03:25:11 am
I agree with Stacy, once you are in a constant state of pleasure the "pleasure" begins to become a norm and isn't as satisfying.
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Alex Farrell Skupny
5/20/2015 02:00:45 am
No I am not a Hedonist. I think true happiness is felt once one has experienced pain, and a person is extremely grateful for a pleasurable experience once they have experienced pain and allows for personal growth. A happy life that is not a pleasant one would be a child living in poverty but being happy with the things and experiences they are given as they are first experiences and primal.
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Lesly
5/20/2015 03:23:17 am
I totally agree with Alex!
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Stevie
5/21/2015 01:54:09 am
I agree with Alex completely
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Stephen
5/20/2015 03:23:28 am
Pain is temporary, pride is forever. Storm on
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Josh
5/20/2015 03:23:43 am
I am a hedonist. Everything we do is to take away pain and add to our pleasure. Even when giving things up and to help others, this is a selfish act to give yourself pleasure.
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Karla C
5/20/2015 03:25:30 am
It just depends on whether one believes pleasure and happiness are the same thing. I personally don't believe that maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain is the key to happiness. I believe happiness comes from the value attached to certain moments or aspects of ones life.
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Sabrina
5/20/2015 03:26:00 am
I am not a hedonist. There's more to happiness than what is "pleasant." There is a certain amount of happiness in making other people happy, even if you aren't necessarily living a great life. Hedonists are missing that sort of selflessness.
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Freddy
5/20/2015 03:26:07 am
I am a Hedonist, pain isn't required to be happy. In children for example they will be happy af without going through any struggle before.
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Lauren Jaffe
5/20/2015 03:26:53 am
I am not a hedonist because I believe most of the time there needs to be some pain in order to experience a life of pleasure. For example, many people find it painful to go to school and work but they do it anyway because they have a drive and desire to become successful. Once that success is achieved, they will most likely experience the greatest pleasure and their drive will be reduced.
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Gannon Laidlaw
5/20/2015 03:28:29 am
I believe that a person can live a happy life through both pain and pleasure. Sometimes it takes a whole lot of mental or physical pain to achieve happiness. For example those who have worked very hard in their life through grueling and painful experiences and have maximum pleasure when they achieve their goals.
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Alani Flores
5/20/2015 03:28:41 am
I think every one has had the opportunity to experience happiness in its extend. I do also believe that after pain happiness comes even stronger. On the other hand, pleasure is just the rest of the other moments in life.
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Marie Van Keuren
5/20/2015 03:29:02 am
A happy life consists of people around you that care for you and your well being no matter what. For it to be pleasurable you go through every day doing what you love whether that be a job, spending time with family, or being with loving friends. Although there may be good times, life can not always be happy and joyous, the bad times also must be there to contrast with the good times, to get you to the happy life you lead.
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Josie
5/21/2015 01:55:36 am
I agree with this comment. Pain is essential to happiness, we could never know we were happy if we've never felt pain. We have to have something to compare it to.
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Vanessa
5/20/2015 03:30:59 am
I think that for feel happiness we need to feel pain first, because if we only experience one, it's just a situation without pleasure.
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Alondra Plancarte
5/20/2015 03:33:10 am
I believe that without at least one encounter with pain or sadness, true happiness cannot be measured
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Ene Okon
5/21/2015 01:53:31 am
Im definitely a hedonist
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tanner
5/21/2015 01:54:15 am
i believe everyone has a different view on happiness
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Nestor
5/21/2015 01:56:13 am
I believe its relative. If one is living a truly happy life, than pain has already been reduced to a minimum
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Emily
5/21/2015 01:59:21 am
I believe hapiness is a choice for many. No one can completely out run pain. Trials will always come. It's our perspective and how we deal with them that effects our hapiness. Many movie stars have money and an "easy" life; however, money can't buy connection to the earth or others.
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Dolly Decker
5/21/2015 02:00:44 am
There was once a story I used to read called "The Quilt Makers Gift," which talks about this in a friendly way to the reader. What I have gotten out of this story is that pleasure is externally motivated and fleeting, while happiness is internally generated and constant. Also, I think to get to true happiness, one needs to go through pain to gain happiness.
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Ed Ewing
5/21/2015 02:08:59 am
I believe that the best way to be happy is to live for someone or something else, hedonists are missing the enjoyment of seeing others truly happy, all that they have is their empty lives and their broken smiles that aren't true or genuine. Living for yourself is a shallow way to go about life because at the end of the day, and at the end of your life you won't be able to look back and say "That was worth a lifetime, I did something with my years" because always doing the most for yourself will make everything seem lesser, while doing things for others and seeing them actually smile and be grateful is one of the best feelings in the world that so far nothing can seem to beat, and it has zero downsides.
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Andrew
5/21/2015 07:24:16 am
i agree with Ed that hedonist are missing out on gaining happiness from others or something else not just for or by themself
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Edgar
5/21/2015 03:14:53 am
In order to be happy you have to go through pain first
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anahi fregoso
5/21/2015 03:23:04 am
I feel like you should do what makes you happy as long as it doesn't hurt others.
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gus alfaro
5/21/2015 03:24:01 am
hedonist for sure because every one has their own ways of interpenetrating pleasure and happiness
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Alicia Gomes
5/21/2015 03:24:38 am
I believe if something brings you joy, do it. If something brings you pain then simply don't do it. However, avoiding pain is virtually impossible.
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Vicki
5/21/2015 03:24:38 am
I believe that people have a choice to be happy or not regardless of the amount of pleasure or pain in their lives. All things pleasurable don't necessarily make you happy in the long run, and some things that cause you temporary pain can make you happy in the long run. It all depends, but I am not a hedonist
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Leidy Tovar
5/21/2015 03:25:03 am
I think that life is about more than maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. I think that they go hand in hand to maximize personal growth, and ultimately happiness comes from within. They are people sitting in houses that are filthy rich and are unhappy, and there are people sitting in mud huts that are more "happy". Ultimately, I think that to live a what you could call "happy life" both struggle and success is crucial
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oscar
5/21/2015 03:29:13 am
I believe everyone has a different view on happiness. Sometimes in order to be happy, you have to go through a painful experience and you often learn from it, and in the long run you will live a life full of happiness. So pretty much everyone has their own experience so to become happy.
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veeder
5/21/2015 03:30:34 am
I agree with hedonism but figuring out what will lead to the net maxium happiness is a very complex and involved prosses
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Yesenia
5/21/2015 03:32:35 am
I believe happiness comes with in. One should not let the little petty things Break ones happiness. I feel one should allow themselves to be proud of the progress they've made and the progress that no one has seen them make, and always look forward to the little things that always count the most.
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Priscila
5/21/2015 03:34:08 am
I think that there is more to happiness than maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain, but often times pain will make you realize the true happiness you experienced with pleasure.
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Ale
5/21/2015 07:21:03 am
I believe you need pain in order to experience happiness. With out pain, what does happiness feel like?
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Zach
5/21/2015 07:28:49 am
I agree you need to experience how happiness, pain and pleasure feels
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Omar
5/21/2015 07:21:10 am
Happiness can be a factor of a pleasant life; however, happiness can just be a mask and a distraction
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Chris Saladin
5/21/2015 07:24:25 am
I agree with the Hedonists view, in order to feel happiness and pain, one must have certain life experiences first.
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Nick G
5/21/2015 07:24:46 am
I'm at a stump with the question but I can definitely say that once you've experienced pain, you will know what happiness feels like.
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Karina
5/21/2015 07:24:56 am
I think there's more to happiness than maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. Sadness and pain are important in order for people to realize whether they are truly happy or not.
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VICTOR
5/21/2015 07:25:12 am
pleasure and pain are the components processed of build happiness
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Cathlina
5/21/2015 07:25:40 am
I think there is more to happiness than maximizing please and minimizing pain, in life certainly you are going to go through pain. That same pain you will experience true happiness. Happiness is measured in how much you enjoy your life and the people around you not the stuff you have or want.
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Michael Davidson
5/21/2015 07:28:07 am
Pleasure can be from pain and unhappiness; it's all a matter of preference. In my case, I feel like the unhappy times give a more filling life to view back on.
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Taylor
5/21/2015 07:28:35 am
I am not a Hedonist. I believe there is more to having a qualitative life than maximizing pleasure, and I think part of life is accepting certain pains.
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Armando
5/21/2015 07:30:19 am
I believe that happiness in more then maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. I believe this because you need pain to learn from and from that pain happiness can come. Pleasure isn't always happiness,but it can be a false happiness.
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Raquel
5/21/2015 07:32:15 am
I think everybody has differences view of happiness sometimes you have to pass through a painful situation to became happy.
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Trinity
5/21/2015 07:46:55 am
For me, happiness isn't primarily controlled by external forces, but is instead a state of mind that I can chose to have. Maximizing pleasure is one thing that I can do and be happy, but I can still be happy simply existing or doing something that doesn't necessarily stimulate my senses in a pleasing way. I can chose to go to school and be in a good mood, or I can chose to let the dullness of the situation affect my attitude towards the rest of the day. Stress wise, I usually prefer to remain in a good mood.
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