What Is Pleasure? – Is Henry Sidgwick’s Definition Still Valid?

Abstract

Hedonistic utilitarians claim that our moral duty is to maximize, impartially, the pleasure of as many beings as possible. But what is pleasure? Henry Sidgwick, the most careful writer of the classical utilitarians, defined it as “desirable consciousness”. The aim of this paper is, first, to elaborate on his definition and, second, to compare it with the recent neuroscientific findings on what happens in the brain when we experience pleasure. Is it necessarily a conscious feeling? Is desire common to all feelings that we call pleasure? Can we compare pleasures and pains? In the end, the discussion will lead us to pose a question about the methodology of using scientific studies in philosophical discussions.