Literary notes about hedonistic (AI summary)
The term “hedonistic” in literature is employed in a variety of contexts, often to underscore a pursuit of pleasure or comfort as a guiding principle. At times it appears as a descriptor for a lifestyle or character that values mere sensual satisfaction, whether in the context of philosophical musings on duty and happiness [1] or in criticisms highlighting indulgence to the point of immorality or degeneracy [2][3]. It is also used to qualify systems and theories—especially in ethics and economics—that rightfully focus on utility and pleasure as core values, though not without inviting scrutiny over their simplifications and potential excesses [4][5]. This versatility allows “hedonistic” to serve both as a neutral analytical term and a pointed critique, enriching discussions ranging from aesthetic evaluations to moral philosophy [6][7].
- Moral Philosophy is not hedonistic but it is eudæmomstic, the end is the enjoyment of Happiness, not the fulfilment of Duty.
— from The Ethics of Aristotle by Aristotle - All this is simply detestable to the new spirit, which is sentimental, undisciplined, and hedonistic.
— from The Legacy of Greece Essays By: Gilbert Murray, W. R. Inge, J. Burnet, Sir T. L. Heath, D'arcy W. Thompson, Charles Singer, R. W. Livingston, A. Toynbee, A. E. Zimmern, Percy Gardner, Sir Reginald Blomfield - The soft, hedonistic, and degenerate in morality, however, arise from Sympathy.
— from We Moderns: Enigmas and Guesses by Edwin Muir - But till that piercing question is answered, all hedonistic systems, however elaborate and perfect their fabric, are building on “wood, hay, stubble.”
— from Parallel Paths: A Study in Biology, Ethics, and Art by T. W. (Thomas William) Rolleston - Also the previous reflection on hedonistic method for Book ii. had shown me its weaknesses.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick - And as I have no use for whisky, as merely an agreeable beverage, I have struck whisky out of my hedonistic scheme of existence.
— from The Rough Road by William John Locke - It was to justify poetry against the attacks of Plato that Aristotle advanced a hedonistic view of poetry and propounded his theory of katharsis.
— from Rhetoric and Poetry in the RenaissanceA Study of Rhetorical Terms in English Renaissance Literary Criticism by Donald Lemen Clark
