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Cesia Cubias

Phil 2306

Ms. Burleson

29 October 2022

High and Low Pleasure

Living a hedonistic lifestyle sounds like a dream come true. Hedonism is the view that

life is good to the extent that it is filled with pleasure and is free of pain, and to live a hedonistic

lifestyle is to live and behave in ways that give you the most pleasure and satisfaction with

yourself (Shafer-Landau pg.46). Have you ever thought about how your life could have been if

you were delighted and felt no pain? As I was preparing this project, I realized that during my

life, I had been subconsciously using a hedonistic mindset to make so many decisions for my

life. However, living a perfect hedonistic life is quite impossible because of the “normal” amount

of pain humans experience. Here, I will abstract how I have and will apply hedonism in my life

and career.

Out of the several hedonistic theories based on the principle of living in pleasure and with as

little pain as possible, the theory that has resonated with my life and career is the John Stuart

Mill theory. This theory differs from all other forms of hedonism because it focuses on the

quality of the pleasure rather than the amount of happiness that is received. Mill expressed that

there are higher and lower pleasures and that higher pleasures are sought out more and are more

valuable to the person. He would describe lower pleasures as daily activities that bring someone

pleasure that may not be of as much value to them. Higher pleasures are those that not everyone

might experience or something that brings them more satisfaction and may be more memorable
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to the person. “When he says that the higher quality pleasures are better than lower quality ones,

he must mean there is something about them that makes them better besides the fact that they are

pleasures.” (Green).

Mill also implies that there are various levels for the importance of pleasure by stating the

following, “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates

dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.” (Colbert), meaning that the pleasures of a man are more

significant than the pleasures of the pig. This first part of the quote clarifies why the pleasures of

the human and pig are different, but why would the pleasures of the fool be lesser than those of

Socrates? He justifies this by claiming that bodily pleasures are lower and shared by both

humans and animals, but humans can have the pleasure of intellect, imagination, and emotions,

thus making Socrates' dissatisfaction more significant than a fool’s satisfaction (Miller). I have

used a mindset like this to make many important life decisions, such as choosing a college to

attend and my college major.

My life has been average, but I have experienced some uncommon encounters. I was

born and raised in Belize, City, Belize, but moved to Dickinson, Texas when I was ten. When I

started school in the U.S., I was placed in the sixth grade at ten, making me the youngest in all

my classes. I had made up my dream job when I was seven, a ballerina-doctor-chef. Although I

no longer dance anymore, I still love to cook and have a deep passion for helping people in the

medical setting because that brings me the most happiness. I have always had a favorable view

of my life and the decisions I made for myself because everything was going according to plan

until my junior year of high school when things were becoming unfortunate, and it was hard to

be positive. As John Mill states that it is better to be a dissatisfied human rather than a satisfied
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pig, it allowed me to relate it to a time when I was trying to be as positive as I could be despite

the challenges being faced.

My senior year of high school was one of the most problematic years of my life,

especially with everything being affected by Covid-19. The school year had started online, and I

was missing being out of the house and with my friends, even if the only place to be is at school.

Online school was already hard enough, but little did I know that was only the beginning of my

problems. Researching colleges with a nursing degree program with high passing rates and good

campus life was my main priority, as it would bring me the greatest pleasure. Unfortunately,

after I graduated, my family was going through a crisis and needed me to stay close to home.

Honestly, I was a little devastated that I would have to plan for a different future that could fit

my needs that I had deemed a lower pleasure. Looking for the positive in this situation was

tough, but I was smart and planned if an emergency would change my school plans.

College of the Mainland has one of the best nursing programs a community college can

offer and is now offering a bachelor's degree in nursing. Even though this college was not what I

had envisioned throughout high school, this would benefit me the most financially and

educationally, giving me the most pleasure I would receive out of the rest of my college choices.

Through all my challenging work, countless hours studying, and my grit, I am applying to the

fall 2023 nursing program at College of the Mainland. Never would I have thought that I would

be this far in my nursing journey at the age of eighteen giving me the highest level of satisfaction

for myself.

I do not have a job related to my field of study, but I have two medical certifications I

earned before graduating high school. While studying for the certification exams has taught me

how to care for the patient physically and emotionally. Studies show that nursing students apply
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hedonism more in their work than medical students (Sönmez et al.). I have used a hedonistic

mindset to assure the patient that they are getting the best care and to keep myself in a positive

mindset while performing procedures. It is vital that the patient is as comfortable as they can be

while staying at the hospital, ensuring that we give them the most pleasurable medical

experience. For many, being in the hospital can be scary and confusing, and having a good team

of medical professionals can help you process and thoroughly understand the patient’s illnesses

or injuries. I have interpreted that nurses have more contact time with patients than most other

medical staff, impacting the patient more than the nurses would notice due to the number of

patients they see during a typical day.

Hedonism can also play a role in the medical decisions a patient makes for themselves.

Do not resuscitate forms are only given to the patient under request, and those that request for it

have already decided that death would be their highest pleasure during that situation. Of course,

there are situations that are less extreme when it comes to patient decisions such as deciding

what their best treatment options are or deciding the best time for a surgery, if their decision

brings them the most pleasure, the medical team will advocate for the patient’s decisions.

Although true hedonism cannot be practiced ideally, you can still base your decisions on

what brings you the most pleasure. My life has changed so much, from thinking about the

choices that make the most significant impact to weighing out the pleasures and benefits that will

make me happier during the present and the future. Today, I take pleasure in everything I do

because of my decisions made; some pleasures are more significant than others, but I love my

life now.
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Works Cited

“Chapter 4, The Good Life, Hedonism.” Living Ethics: An Introduction with Readings, by Russ

Shafer-Landau, Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 46–46.

Colbert, Stephen, director. Higher and Lower Pleasure. YouTube, YouTube, 9 Mar. 2021,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aptx2oQ4AHs.

Green, Michael J. “Mill's Hedonism.” Mill's Hedonism, 7 Feb. 2019,

carneades.pomona.edu/2019-Ethics/05.Mill.html.

Miller, Dale E. “John Stuart Mill on the Good Life: Higher-Quality Pleasures.”

1000wordphilosophy, 26 Sept. 2020, 1000wordphilosophy.com/2020/09/26/john-stuart-

mill-on-the-good-life-higher-quality-pleasures/#_ftn11.

Sönmez, Betül, et al. “The Correlations between Nursing and Medical Students' Values and

Social Innovation Tendencies.” Florence Nightingale Hemsirelik Dergisi, U.S. National

Library of Medicine, 1 Oct. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8127581/.