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The topic of pleasure is the chief end of a man, is a philosophical point of view by a

particular author, Epicurus, who argued that the living model of man determines delight in man.

In this, Epicurus supported a living where one can live deriving more pleasure, in their lifetime.

From my point of view, I disagree with Epicurus on this matter of fun being the chief end of a

man. Since some people appreciate life as well-lived when they undergo pain suffering, this

means the pain they experience through the challenges they undergo; it is their chief end rather

than pleasure, as advocated by Epicurus.

Philosophically, Epicurus, who strongly advocated for this "pleasure is the end of a man,"

arguing that the most significant thing to make a human being comfortable and satisfied with life

was to cut-off everything that created unrest in their life. Epicurus in his life, he went ahead

trying to help the people to shun activities like politics, which seemed to develop, frustrations

among the people since they had to choose, for instance, their leader and there were several

candidates, in which this was against the Epicurus point of pleasure. Epicurus, with his

argument, generally sensitized that every human being to do all that they can to avoid the issue

of pain in their life. The goal of his ideology was to maintain that pleasure was the greatest

among anxiety and fear. The Epicurus advocacy to happiness concentrated on the peace of mind
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rather than physical satisfaction. He discouraged desires that were not of necessity for people to

live their life well. Desires like lust for higher ranks positions in leadership and such for

popularity. Following Epicurus, these virtues were to be cut off or suppressed to pave away for a

peaceful mind, which could bring pleasure among the people (Nikolsky and Boris 450). This

man went ahead to try and make humans free of fear from gods and the death, in which

according to him, this couldn't give people peace in mind they had to think about, where do

people go after they die? Where did God come from? Is there a God in reality? All these

questions nagged and disturbed people's minds, leading to restlessness.

On the contrary to Epicurus way of view on the livelihood of human being, pleasure

cannot be the only thing that people need to have to live a good life. People appreciate lacking

comfort in their life. People undergo painful experiences that's makes them remember and

understand the pattern of life. If people could live a happy life all the time following Epicurus

ideology, the aspect of life could be so different. Even though many people dislike sometimes

painful situations with a lot of suffering due to an unpleasant state of feelings, people do

appreciate the pain and suffering after all. What makes life interesting is that aspect of changes

from pain to pleasure, if growth is entirely meant to be happy according to Epicurus's

philosophical view that could be the worst life ever. What brings about the joy in man's life is the

feeling that comes after the pain and suffering (Nikolsky and Boris 450). Pleasure cannot exist

without pain having experienced.

Epicurus, who based his argument on the pleasure the basics of life, when it comes to

ethics he argued his idea on the bases of hedonism, which was to search for fun and keeping of

the sufferings was the best component of man's life (Nikolsky and Boris 450). He says that the

environment itself tries to train human beings to live a life away from pain and distress when he
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considers how the animal tries to avoid painful experiences. His main goal was to make people

focus all their ethics towards preventing the pain, as this could bring pleasure automatically.

According to philosophers like Epicurus, he said that happiness is better than bad; he centered all

his argument on making sure pleasure is achieved (Violon, 320) the different types of joys

discussed by Epicurus, he prefers static comfort to move preferences; he says that the static

pleasures release people from the pain of want.

When Epicurus decided to face and explain to people on the divine matters, many of the

believers tried to block him; with him, he had trust in God, and he trusted that God existed. But

then he said divines like God had nothing to do with the lives of human beings. He suggested

that even though God exists, he is not there to prevent a person from doing anything that makes

them happy (Haezrahi and Pepita, 75) This philosopher Epicurus, what he didn't know was that

the pleasure to believers originate from the suffering they undergo, the painful situation in them

are considered as the preparation by God towards achieving the comfort. The matter of death,

which was is also hand In hand with the divine being, on the issue of pleasure; he suggested that

fearing of death by people broke the chain of pleasure search.

Stating that pleasure is the chief end of a man was done with ignorance on other sides of

life. The origin of pleasure, pain, and suffering being an aspect of life can be the chief end of a

man in this way, whatever the people learn and appreciate after a feeling of pain, is a pleasure.

Still, the pain that this person has undergone is what makes him understand the suffering he

endured (Goodall and Suzy, 12) the pain that arises from the frustration should be satisfied by

avoiding the disappointment you are facing. This pain is a desire; it brings an aspect of

importance in our lives. Even though pleasure desires are vital in peoples life, pleasure cannot be

the only chief end of a human, since the pains and the sufferings, that humans undergo want joy,
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by avoiding pain is when the pleasure comes, the feeling that the pain is over, but if the pain was

not there the fun could be meaningless to people. Pain and suffering are what make pleasure, and

without them, the existence of joy couldn't be there. That is why happiness cannot only be the

chief end of man, and they need some pains and suffering to make them continue growing.
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Work cited

Goodall, Suzy. Pleasure & Pain, vol 12 no.5, 2017, Arrival,

Haezrahi, Pepita. "Pain And Pleasure: Some Reflections On Susan Stebbing's View That Pain

And Pleasure Are Moral Values." Philosophical Studies, vol 11, no. 5, 2016, pp. 71-

78.Springer Science And Business Media LLC, doi:10.1007/bf00420758.

Pánková, Lenka. "Novelistic Nostalgia: The Pleasure And The Pain." TRANS-, no. 14,

2018.Open edition, doi:10.4000/trans.615.

Nikolsky, Boris. "Epicurus On Pleasure." Phronesis, vol 46, no. 4, 2019, pp. 440-465. Brill,

doi:10.1163/156852801753736490.

Violon, A. "Pain-Proneness And The Lack Of Pleasure." Pain, vol 30, 2018, p. S320. Ovid

Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health), doi:10.1016/0304-3959(87)91700-3.

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