Archive for 'hedonist' tag

Understanding Hedonism Part 6: Your Deathbed Review

Monday, August 11th, 2008

As the morphine drips slowly through the tubes and the blurry, smiling faces of family, friends, and old compatriots smile lovingly upon you, there will come a moment in which it all becomes vividly, unquestionably and inescapably clear:
You were in the driver’s seat all along.
The choices you made determined your path, the opportunities were always [...]

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Understanding Hedonism Part 5: Reaching Nirvana

Monday, August 11th, 2008

Nirvana’s a term that’s been flippantly tossed around, so its true meaning has muddled over time.
It’s not a location.
It’s not a band.
It’s a state of mind.
Nirvana is the Buddhist term for the quiet state of peace and pure pleasure that can only be found in one’s own private, innermost theater of experience. It’s a place [...]

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Understanding Hedonism Part 4: What’s The True Measure of Success?

Saturday, August 9th, 2008

Normally, my existential views would automatically lead me to say “Success is anything you want it to be. It’s up to you to give your life meaning.”
And that’s still true.
But since we’re all flesh-and-blood biological machine human beings who cannot rise above our own humanity (not that we’d WANT to, but still) there exists a [...]

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Understanding Hedonism Part 3: Anhedonia and Utilitarianism

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Have you come to believe that pleasure and joy are for small children and simpletons? Have you ever met anyone who thought so?
I used carry the opinion that any activity which primarily tapped into the human instinctual “reptilian brain”, or sometimes even the “emotional brain”, was a complete and utter waste of time.
I used to [...]

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Understanding Hedonism Part 2: Live For Yourself Not For Others

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

History is full of debauched slobs who drank, drugged, and bumbled their way through life, sometimes to tragic ends. Are these to be taken as examples of the “good life”?
Hardly.
As always, the pendulum swings, and the excessive, unrestrained indulgences of our forebears simply represent the dangers of unbridled hedonism. A touch of restraint and self-control [...]

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Understanding Hedonism and Embracing Your Own Freedom

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

“No human thing is of serious importance.” - Plato
“Pleasure is the beginning and end of living happily.” - Epicurus
“A well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.” - Leonardo da Vinci
“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.” - Bertrand [...]

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