Psalm 16:11 says, “In your presence there is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The presence of the Lord brings true joy. In the pursuit of the Lord, the believer will find true pleasure. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism of 1647 summarizes, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Scripture states that man will find his ultimate fulfillment in the Lord, and that the purpose of humanity is to glorify God (Ecclesiastes 12:13 1 Corinthians 10:31 Isaiah 43:21 Micah 6:8). Pleasure is not meant to be man’s chief end. In His Parable of the Sower, Jesus says this: “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke 8:14).īiblically, chasing pleasure chokes out the Word and is ultimately unfulfilling and meaningless. But in the end the verdict was that “everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind nothing was gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). I denied myself nothing my eyes desired I refused my heart no pleasure” (Ecclesiastes 2:1, 10). In the book of Ecclesiastes, the writer delves deep into the folly of chasing pleasure: “I said to myself, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.’. The hedonistic outlook is not supported by Scripture. With its newfound popularity, it developed into a more nuanced psychological and ethical theory, but the base remained the same: one should pursue the greatest pleasure. Hedonism reemerged with prominence in the 18th century under philosophers like Jeremy Bentham. The Epicurean school of thought went on to flourish, and Epicureans debated with the apostle Paul in Athens (Acts 17:18).
Epicurus taught that there is no afterlife and so one must enjoy pleasure as the ultimate end, though he acknowledged occasional restraint could lead to greater pleasure later. Aristippus believed that the ultimate meaning of life is pleasure and, thus, pleasure should be man’s greatest pursuit.Īristippus’s ideas may not have taken such hold if he were not succeeded by his more famous student, Epicurus, who also subscribed to hedonism. Aristippus of Cyrene, a student of Socrates, is believed to be the first to preach this philosophy. The term hedonism comes from the ancient Greek word for “pleasure.” Our concept of the philosophy of hedonism largely stems from the ancient Greeks. Hedonists pursue a lifestyle of self-indulgence. Hedonism is a philosophy of life that supports pursuing all kinds of pleasure.
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