tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post18484184270696119..comments2023-10-14T09:40:06.690-05:00Comments on Jean Kazez: "The balance of pleasure minus pain"Jean Kazezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00592593002719828153noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-60708147235729532772011-06-22T12:01:12.983-05:002011-06-22T12:01:12.983-05:00A couple of things--
We need to keep the focus on...A couple of things--<br /><br />We need to keep the focus on the one hour time period on Mother's Day, not get distracted by how this episode keeps giving my son more joy over time. The question is about how to assess that one hour. <br /><br />The hedonistic utilitarian says the good (or bad) in the hour is a purely mathematical question of the balance you get when you subtract the pain fromJean Kazezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06297159994901018071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-55838320115992530582011-06-22T06:07:14.530-05:002011-06-22T06:07:14.530-05:00I think the issue was addressed by David Velleman&...I think the issue was addressed by David Velleman's "Well-being and time". The balance has to be assessed against the narrative background of one's own life. Of course your assessment of an even cannot be qualitatively the same depending on whether pain x occurs *before* or *after* pleasure y. If I buy a cookie and get stung, I'll be annoyed. If I get stung and buy a cookie,Nicolashttp://ndelon.chez.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-8409547280248519922011-06-21T13:04:16.285-05:002011-06-21T13:04:16.285-05:00I don't know about this example. I mean in th...I don't know about this example. I mean in the end you have the ipod, and the "sum" is equal, but in reality it isn't equal. You now have an experience that you can share with people. "I got a free ipod because I'm a liberal!" That's pretty priceless.<br /><br />Ultimately, these kinds of scenarios are purely hindsight. Had I asked you, "which would Waynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08627147979307495870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-37656246459298318062011-06-20T12:34:56.931-05:002011-06-20T12:34:56.931-05:00Parfit has lots of ingenious examples in "Rea...Parfit has lots of ingenious examples in "Reasons and Persons" about what we would prefer (or what is rational to prefer) in all kinds of interesting scenarios. We do have a strange relationship with our future and past selves. And also we are deeply and predictably irrational (http://amzn.com/006135323X) in ways that complicate this even more.<br /><br />http://www.stafforini.com/txt/ʍʘɔɪɚɐʞɱʝɟʯʚʓʖɯʃʠɝɿɫnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-19223495453225682872011-06-19T16:18:45.659-05:002011-06-19T16:18:45.659-05:00You're right: it's not something that you...You're right: it's not something that you can determine by simple calculation or by a complex calcuation.<br /><br />However, it would be interesting to ask your son what his opinion of the incident is in 30 more years.<br /><br />I would wager, judging from my own experience, that the memory of the genius giving him a new i-pod will stay with him all his life and be a magic moment s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.com