Fred Feldman

Pleasure and the Good Life

Concerning the Nature, Varieties, and Plausibility of Hedonism

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Since ancient times, hedonism has been one of the most attractive and controversial theories about 'the Good Life'. On this view, the Good Life is the pleasant life - pleasure is the Good. Now Fred Feldman presents a careful, modern formulation of hedonism, defending the theory against some of the most important objections. Distinguishing some diverse variants of the theory, and assessing their merits, Feldman explains why each deserves to be classified as a form
of hedonism. His book offers inspiring vindication for anyone who hopes that it is possible to enjoy oneself and be good at the same time.

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Fred Feldman's fascinating new book sets out to defend hedonism as a theory about the Good Life. He tries to show that, when carefully and charitably interpreted, certain forms of hedonism yield plausible evaluations of human lives.
Feldman begins by explaining what we mean when we ask what the Good Life is. He argues that this should not be taken to be a question about the morally good life or about the beneficial life. Rather, the question concerns the general features of the life that is good in itself for the one who lives it. Hedonism says (roughly) that the Good Life is the pleasant life. After showing that the usual formulations of hedonism are often confused or incoherent, Feldman presents a simple, clear, coherent
form of sensory hedonism that provides a starting point for discussion. He then considers a catalogue of classic objections to hedonism, coming from sources as diverse as Plato, Aristotle, Brentano, Ross, Moore, Rawls, Kagan, Nozick, Brandt, and others.
One of Feldman's central themes is that there is an important distinction between the forms of hedonism that emphasize sensory pleasure and those that emphasize attitudinal pleasure. Feldman formulates several kinds of hedonism based on the idea that attitudinal pleasure is the Good. He claims that attitudinal forms of hedonism - which have often been ignored in the literature - are worthy of more careful attention.
Another main theme of the book is the plasticity of hedonism. Hedonism comes in many forms. Attitudinal hedonism is especially receptive to variations and modifications. Feldman illustrates this plasticity by formulating several variants of attitudinal hedonism and showing how they evade some of the objections. He also shows how it is possible to develop forms of hedonism that are equivalent to the allegedly anti-hedonistic theory of G. E. Moore, and the Aristotelian theory according to which
the Good Life is the life of virtue, or flourishing. He also formulates hedonisms relevantly like the ones defended by Aristippus and Mill.
Feldman argues that a carefully developed form of attitudinal hedonism is not refuted by objections concerning 'the shape of a life'. He also defends the claim that all of the alleged forms of hedonism discussed in the book genuinely deserve to be called 'hedonism'. Finally, after dealing with the last of the objections, he gives a sketch of his hedonistic vision of the Good Life.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Oxford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 234
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Juni 2006
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 234mm x 156mm x 13mm
• Gewicht: 370g
• ISBN-13: 9780199297603
• ISBN-10: 0199297606
• Artikelnr.: 20812903

Autorenporträt

Fred Feldman was born near Baku, Azerbaijan as his family was fleeing from the German army during World War II. After the war, as Holocaust survivors, they eventually escaped the Soviet Union to refugee collection centers in Poland and were transferred to several displaced persons camps in Austria, where they remained for three years trying to obtain visas to immigrate to the United States. He arrived at age seven with his family in the United States, unable to speak English, and went through the public-school system in South Bend, Indiana from kindergarten through high school. Fred graduated as a high school valedictorian, attended the University of Chicago as an undergraduate and Purdue University where he received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. From the time Feldman was a child, he developed a passion for collecting stories and photographs of his extensive and exceptional family history. As an adult, and while fully engaged in his professional activities, He conducted myriad interviews of survivors and his family, extensively documented all their photographs and history, and has conducted presentations on them. Since retirement, he has produced a four-DVD video-documentary of his family's history and used that material as a basis for writing his book. While he considers the book a memoir, it could easily fit into the genre of a non-fiction narrative. While there are a number of historical fiction books describing events of this era, there are few authors remaining that survived these experiences that can describe them with such detail and veracity and relate them to current times. While he could have grown up to be a goat herder in Azerbaijan, his progression from those horrible times to becoming a top scientist adds an interesting and unusual thread to his story. Beyond expectations from his unique beginnings, Dr. Feldman worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 30 years becoming a Senior Vice President and Chief Science Officer with global responsibilities and chairing an international world-class scientific advisory board. His expertise was in the application of science to industrial processing for the development of advanced therapeutics, especially in the treatment of life-threatening congenital inherited diseases. He developed several "First-in-class" products that have been registered and distributed globally. He has been invited and participated in industry conferences as a keynote speaker and presented in venues around the world.

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction
1: The Quest for the Good Life
2: Hedonism: A Preliminary Formulation
3: Classic Objections to Hedonism
4: Attitudinal Hedonism
5: Replies to Some Objections
6: The Shape of a Life Objection
7: G. E. Moore, Hedonist?
8: But is it Really 'Hedonism'?
9: Problems about Beauty and Justice
10: Themes and Puzzles