Single Idea 97

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

Full Idea

There are many things which we should be eager to have even if they brought no pleasure with them, e.g. sight, memory, knowledge, and several kinds of excellence.

Gist of Idea

There are many things we would want even if they brought no pleasure

Source

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1174a06)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.318


A Reaction

I think he suggests eyesight, which implies that we want the knowledge that brings. Many things we want give us security, which seems to be an unconscious pleasure.