Abstract
From the Greek hedone, ‘pleasure’, this term is used of two different theses, one a psychological thesis about motivation (psychological hedonism), the other a thesis about what is intrinsically valuable in a person’s life (ethical hedonism).
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Bibliography
A classic discussion of these issues is Henry Sidgwick, The Methods of Ethics, 7th edn, Bk I, chs 4 and 9; Bk II, chs 1–4; Bk III, ch. 14; Bk IV, ch. 1. For a good discussion of Sidgwick’s views, see Schneewind (1977), ch. 11. For modern discussions, see Brandt (1979), ch. 13; Edwards (1979); Parfit (1984), Appendix I; Griffin (1986), Pt I.
Brandt, R.B. 1979. A theory of the good and the right. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Edwards, R.B. 1979. Pleasures and pains. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Griffin, J. 1986. Well-being. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Parfit, D. 1984. Reasons and persons. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Schneewind, J.B. 1977. Sidgwick’s ethics and victorian moral philosophy. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sidgwick, H. 1874. The methods of ethics, 7th edn. London: Macmillan, 1907.
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Griffin, J., Parfit, D. (2018). Hedonism. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_820
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_820
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