The Theory Of Pleasure In Philebus And Its Historical Influence

The theory of pleasure or happiness is the core of ethical thinking.The modern Western's theory of happiness is deeply influenced by ancient Greek ethical thoughts.Philebus is an important dialogue of Plato's works.Its theme is usually summarized as "pleasure or ethics",and its core question first shows what constitutes "the human good" or "the happiness of people",pleasure or intellect? Or neither of them,but some kind of mixture? So which of them is the decisive factor in this mixture,or is it the closest to the good?Although,both Plato and Protachus are agreed to that a life of mixed pleasure and reason is the best life,but not literally what kind of them are "good",what we should seek is more promising in the perfect mix of life.In this regard,"Socrates" made a detailed study of pleasure and knowledge.(1)First of all,"Socrates" pointed out that there are two types of pleasure,one is belongs to the nature which does not recognize the division of the body and the pleasure,and one is completely belongs to the soul.No matter which one,Plato did propose a basic explanatory model of pain and pleasure,i.e.the perceived destruction and replenishment.(2)Secondly,the criticism of the false pleasure.The study of Socrates' argument for false pleasure has almost taken up half of the research literature on Philebus.Because of the ambiguity of this part of the concrete argument,there is still a great controversy in academic circles.In this part,I focus on Plato's true and false sense of pleasure in the logical sense,and try to explore the ethical significance from the suggestion of false pleasure.(3)Through the dialectical analysis of the pleasure and reason,in the end,reason and wisdom are relegated to the third,and few pure pleasure after a screening slipped to last in the sort of "good mixed life".For Plato,pleasure is a remedial "good" at best: it is always a filling of a deficiency or a restoration of a harmonious state.So it's not so much a critique of hedonism as it is about a real optimism in Philebus.When Aristotle talks about pleasure in Nicomachean Ethics,it is ostensibly about the question of whether pleasure is good or not,but the potential argument is the definition of pleasure.Aristotle's basic position is to oppose the process argument in Philebus,and adopted a new terminology and interpretation framework to reinterpret pleasure.In the debate between hedonism and anti-hedonism,Aristotelian argues in a dialectical way that the life of human is the foundation of pleasures.However,seeingAristotle's views of relationship between pleasure and knowledge,the distinguish between the true and false pleasure,and the relationship of pleasure and happiness,Aristotle's basic position of optimism is consistent with Plato,and the essence of spirit in Nicomachean Ethics are not beyond the the framework provided by Plato in Philebus,the good life is mixed with the pure pleasure and intellect.So it can be argued that Aristotle's theory of happiness is deeply inherited to Philebus in fact despite its strong criticism for Plato's pleasure theory.If we say that Aristotle's theory of happiness lays the foundation for the theory of happiness in western ethics,then it is obvious that it is inseparable from the effect of Philebus.Finally,through further investigation of Epicurus hedonism's basic idea,I found a connection between Epicurus' s thoughts and Philebus.The latter in constructing its theory may often consider to respond to Plato's certain beliefs and criticism.As is known to all,Plato turned against Democritus as the enemy,but in Philebus,we can see that Plato referred to "a kind of the study of natural person",who can still be ally against the hedonism despite their problems of thinking mode and wrong in its basic concept.We thought that "such people" might be Greek philosophers of nature.Interestingly,natural philosophers may claim to be "hedonistic" despite their opposition to hedonism.So what a view of pleasure and happiness of a natural philosopher ? To answer this question,we should listen to Epicurus.Epicurus was not only the founder of the Greek period of hedonism,but also one of the main representatives of the western hedonism.Epicurus' s hedonism to the attention of the spirit of happiness and the rejection of vulgar happiness also shows that the so-called hedonist is Plato's "enemy" or "Ally".There is no clear boundaries,but presenting an intricate relationship.I focus on Plato's theory of pleasure,the basis of careful reading and analysis of the text,as well as the analysis of Aristotle's theory of happiness,the hedonism of Epicurus and their intricate relationship,to explore the Philebus' s basic position in he formation of Western classical happiness,and to re-excavate the the wisdom and inspiration of the classical master in solving the problem of happiness in life.