Would a life of suffering be worth living?

dukkha

Imagine your current life, lived in the same way except you don't experience any pleasure. Would this life be worth living?

I've been thinking hard about this question a lot lately. Because the way in which I choose to answer it would either affirm or deny whether I'm a hedonist.

To answer "no" would be to accept* that the only thing that makes my life worth living is the (admittedly rare) experiences of pleasure I undergo. That things like relationships, life being significant/meaningful (whatever this means), abstract things like justice or truth - they're all worthless without the good experiences that accompany them. That loving relationships with family members only have value insofar as I personally receive pleasure from them.

To answer yes, would be to deny that hedonism is true - and that there is something in this present world other than pleasure that makes my life worth living.

The thing is, I just cannot think of what that could be. I'm really coming to believe that there really is nothing valuable in this world other than pleasure/good/positive experiences/sensations.

This depresses me somewhat. I feel as if pleasure is kind of meaningless in the end, it's really not that significant. I mean it's like you're born, you experience some pleasure, and then you die. SO what you know? Pleasure is itself so fleeting, you can't really grasp it or take it with you anywhere. Most of the time so-called "pleasurable" experiences are polluted with suffering anyway. Take an amazing sunset. It can fill you with a sense of awe but in the background you know it's soon going to end, you're probably hungry or have some other need. What I mean is that suffering is constantly in the background (and often the foreground) of all our experiences. If pleasure is the only thing in this world which makes life worth living - then my life really isn't that valuable or significant to me. Why suffer, essentially all your life, just to experience some fleeting glimpses of pleasure and happiness. Once they're felt they're gone.

So, what to do here? The solution I think is to either find something in this world which is valuable that ISN'T pleasure/good sensations. OR, learn to get really excited about the possibility of experiencing pleasure. Really come to believe that this world gives one a really amazing opportunity to experience truly positively (above neutral, and suffering) experiences. Become a full-blown hedonist, excited about and planning the next pleasurable experience? Live in a constant search after the next pleasure?

Any thoughts? What's actually valuable in this life, why live? And if your current life was stripped of it's pleasure, would you still think it was worth living? And what does your answer to this question tell you about your values? Are you a hedonist?

TheMadFool

One thing noting is that ''pleasure'' in humans differ from that in animals.

For animals sex, food, relaxing, playing are pleasurable activities. This form of pleasure is also present in humans. However, there are certain other ''pleasures'' that are unique to humans viz. Knowledge, sharing, self-sacrifice, etc. I think these are referred to by philosophers as ''higher forms'' of pleasure.

While it all boils down to pleasure of some form it is important not to forget that human pleasure is quite ''different'' as I said above.

Perhaps you already make that distinction in your post.

To cut the story short I think that a life without ''higher forms'' of pleasure is not worth living because we humans are capable of transcending the base ego and when that's not done human life becomes pointless. Don't you think?

Terrapin Station

↪dukkha

First, pleasure vs suffering is a false dichotomy. There are a whole bunch of states in between those two--and beyond them I'd say. But even if you were to see every state as a degree of suffering to pleasure on a continuum, there's still a neutral state in between them.

Second, it's not at all true for me that pleasurable experiences are usually or even often "polluted" with suffering.

Third, yes, pleasure is fleeting and meaningless in the end, but so is suffering and everything else. The world is dynamic, everything is constantly changing, and meaning, whether in the semantic or "purpose" sense, is merely something created by individual persons as long as they're conscious and thinking about meaning. This fleetingness and objective meaninglessness aren't detriments, they're features of what the world is like, and they make all experiences--including suffering--that much more valuable in my opinion, because they're not going to be here for long and they're going to keep changing, so embrace them for what they are while they're present.

Anyway, re the question in your topic line, if I were in constant, severe pain and there was no hope of not being in constant, pretty severe pain--because of some incurable, chronic illness, I might feel that life was not worth living. But I can't say I'd feel that way for sure. I'm not in that situation.

Terrapin Station

For animals sex, food, relaxing, playing are pleasurable activities. — TheMadFool

A definite indication that I'm an animal.

Cavacava

↪dukkha

↪Terrapin Station

First, pleasure vs suffering is a false dichotomy.

I agree. If there is a true dichotomy it is between pleasure versus pain, which I don't think is isomorphic with happiness versus suffering.

Also, there is a medical condition:

Anhedonia (/ˌænhiˈdoʊniə/ an-hee-doh-nee-ə; Greek: ἀν- an-, "without" and ἡδονή hēdonē, "pleasure") is the inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, e.g. exercise, hobbies, music, sexual activities or social interactions.

Wikipedia

Apparently a form of depression according to Wikipedia.

Would a life of suffering be worth living?

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