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Dichotomy of Pleasure

By Michael Alan Prestwood

Thu 30 May 2024
Published 2 years ago.
Updated 2 years ago.
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Dichotomy of Pleasure: Epicureanism highlights the difference between short-term and long-term pleasures. They assert you can live a better life by focusing on long-term pleasures like exercise and reading over short-term pleasures like overeating and getting drunk.

Dichotomy of Pleasure

Prefer long term pleasures over short.

30 Phil, Chapter 11, Epicurus, Touchstone 31: Dichotomy of Pleasure.

Epicurus defined two types of pleasure: short-term and long-term. Too frequently people put short term pleasures over long-term ones causing deeper harm than warranted.
A short-term pleasure is kinetic as in the active enjoyment of fulfilling a desire, such as eating a delicious meal or engaging in a pleasurable activity. Longer or deeper pleasures are katastematic and include the relief of quenching one’s thirst or the contentment of a good night’s sleep. Put simply, for each pair of kinetic-katastematic pleasures, Epicurus wants you to prioritize the katastematic pleasure to live a better life.

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Michael Alan Prestwood
Author & Natural Philosopher
Prestwood writes on science-first philosophy, with particular attention to the convergence of disciplines. Drawing on his TST Framework, his work emphasizes rational inquiry grounded in empirical observation while engaging questions at the edges of established knowledge. With TouchstoneTruth positioned as a living touchstone, this work aims to contribute reliable, evolving analysis in an emerging AI era where the credibility of information is increasingly contested.
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