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Full Idea
By pleasure I shall signify a passive state wherein the mind passes to a greater perfection.
Gist of Idea
Pleasure is a passive state in which the mind increases in perfection
Source
Baruch de Spinoza (The Ethics [1675], III Pr 11)
Book Ref
Spinoza,Benedict de: 'Ethics, Improvement of Understanding, Letters', ed/tr. Elwes,R [Dover 1955], p.138
A Reaction
A rather bizarre definition! He seems to be defining it as a state and as a process in the same sentence. It sounds to me like both a hedonist's charter, and nonsense. I'm with Plato and Aristotle, that pleasure is dangerous as it warps the mind.
| 385 | Some of the pleasures and pains we feel are false [Plato] |
| 4376 | Pleasure and pain are perceptions of things as good or bad [Aristotle] |
| 4374 | For Aristotle, pleasure is the perception of particulars as valuable [Achtenberg on Aristotle] |
| 1835 | True pleasure is not debauchery, but freedom from physical and mental pain [Epicurus] |
| 4847 | Pleasure is a passive state in which the mind increases in perfection [Spinoza] |
| 12962 | Pleasure is a sense of perfection [Leibniz] |
| 5049 | Intelligent pleasure is the perception of beauty, order and perfection [Leibniz] |
| 7197 | Pleasure needs dissatisfaction, boundaries and resistances [Nietzsche] |
| 4550 | Pleasure and pain are mere epiphenomena, and achievement requires that one desire both [Nietzsche] |
| 9230 | People want to fulfill their desires, but also for their desires to be sustained [Frankfurt] |