Single Idea 508

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 3. Pleasure / c. Value of pleasure]

Full Idea

Accept no pleasure unless it is beneficial.

Gist of Idea

Only accept beneficial pleasures

Source

Democritus (attrib) (reports [c.250 BCE], B074)

Book Reference

'Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers', ed/tr. Freeman,Kathleen [Harvard 1957], p.101


A Reaction

Maybe all pleasures bestow some benefit - even if they are linked to harm. I struggle to see what is wrong with a harmless and non-beneficial pleasure, and I doubt if anyone could explain it to me.