THESIS 3 ATTITUDES TOWARD DESIRES

Ethical theories are means or ways to justify ethical decisions. In line of this, there are
three ethical theories which focuses on one specific goal of human existence which is
happiness namely Hedonism, Stoicism and Epicureanism. These different ethical
theories teach varying attitudes towards desires.

The first of the three ethical theories is the all-out satisfaction of desires. It claims that
pleasure is the norm of morality and that it is the one and only good this theory is
known as Hedonism. For a hedonist, the satisfaction of pleasure leads to happiness but
once it is suppressed, it leads to pain because for all, happiness is the highest good and
is the ultimate goal of every human existence.

Hedonism is composed of three desires: intellectual, aesthetic and physical desire.

First, the intellectual desire is the discovery of truth or the pursuit of knowledge. It is the
desire to learn something especially when one poses a very confusing question. The
second type is the aesthetic desire which is all about the desire for beauty. The last one
is defined as the yearning for sexual needs which is the physical desire. The difference
between these two is that in aesthetic, you appreciate a work of art but you doesnt feel
the interest of owning it while in physical desire, you urge to possess the source of the
pleasure itself. But all in all, when these three are satisfied, they will all be classified as
pleasures.

Once you hear the hedonists formula, one will already have an idea on what hedonism
is all about. So the formula is eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die. Sinasabi
lang ditto is to make the best out of everything. Satisfy your pleasures in life because
tomorrow, you never know that you may die.

In the context of stoicism, stoics believe that not at all times pleasure leads to happiness
and that happiness is momentary or temporary. Based on stoicism, to attain lasting
happiness, we have to control or minimize our desires and passions. The virtues that
the stoics teach includes mental tranquility, temperance, self control, serenity and
patience. Of all these, the greatest is peace of mind or apatheia which is the basis of
moral actions.

Epicureanism is an ethical theory that has the standard of giving in only to the moderate
pleasure in life. It is not indulging in too much or too little in the pleasures. Life should be
enjoyed moderately and pleasurably. The goal of this ethical theory is also the same in
the perception of Hedonists and Stoics because, for all of them, the ultimate goal of
human existence is happiness. But the difference of this ethical theory from the rest is
being the middle way of life between the three ethical theories in reaching happiness.
Because, Hedonism teaches all-out satisfaction of pleasure and there is no pleasure at
all to be tolerated in the view of Stoicism.

The Epicureans consider the virtue of prudence in this theory. Prudence is defined as a
careful judgement, thinking thoroughly before going through a decision. The virtue of
prudence is noticed in choosing which of the desires should be satisfied and which
should be ignored.
There are three kinds of desires under the ethical theory of Epicureanism; natural and
necessary, natural and unnecessary and unnatural and unnecessary. Natural and
necessary desires include the basic needs that the human beings need like food,
shelter and also clothing. Natural and unnecessary desires include the sexual urges or
interests of people. Unnatural and unnecessary desires include fame, money, and
wealth.

There are also two kinds of pleasure based on the Epicureans, dynamic and passive
pleasures. Dynamic pleasures are defined as those accompanied by pain like sexual
desires, fame and gluttony. On the other hand, passive pleasures are not accompanied
by pain like friendship, philosophical conversations and others that enhances the quality
life of a person.

So there are three attitudes toward desires Hedonism or the all out satisfaction
which states that Whatever act that gives pleasure is morally right but an act that gives
pain is morally wrong, Stoicism which contradicts hedonism because in here, it is
stated that the satisfaction of pleasure leads to unhappiness because once we feel the
satisfaction, we will desire for it again and the cycle will continue. The third one is the
Epicureanism which professes a moderate pleasure because for an epicurean, anything
taken in excess is evil. So these are the views towards pleasure of the three attitudes.