BBC Ideas｜我们都是隐藏的“享乐主义者”吗？
英音听力｜BBC & 经济学人等
Are we all secret hedonists ?
Hedonism is the philosophy of living your life to experience pleasure and avoid pain, so, if you're watching this while lying on a chaise longue and eating sweets, you're probably a hedonist. Oh, unless you hate sugar, in which case, you're probably a masochist, and that is another film.
The word hedonism comes from the ancient Greek hedone, meaning pleasure and some of the earliest recorded hedonists were Greek: Democritus, Aristippus, and most famously, the 4th century BCE philosopher Epicurus.
Although Epicurus was less of a thrill-seeker than his hedonism implies. For Epicurus the best human condition was a state which he called ataraxia, meaning tranquility. Epicurus believed that small pleasures were more likely to bring us tranquility than earth-shattering pleasures, and it's easy to see his point.
If you find pleasure in a glass of wine with friends at the end of a day, that will be relatively easy to achieve. Crucially for the epicurean thinker, that means it will also be easy to avoid the pain of not being able to have something you desire, a pain which would upset your state of ataraxia.
But if you are only satisfied with vintage champagne, that might not be so easily found. You might not be able to afford it, or the bar where your friends are meeting might not serve it, or the vintage might have run out, because you have drunk it all on previous hedonistic nights out.
Your likelihood of experiencing pain goes up as you become more exacting in your standards of what you need to bring deep pleasure.
So, although hedonism assumes that we seek out pleasure and avoid pain at all times, it might, be worth remembering that more modest pleasures can be easier to find and that might bring you less pain in the long term, the true hedonist score.
And while we might not always think of ourselves as pleasure seekers every time we sit on a comfy chair rather than a bed of nails, we are making a hedonistic choice. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get back to my sweets.
词汇表
hedonism [ˈhiːdənɪzəm] n. 享乐主义，快乐主义（以追求快乐、避免痛苦为核心的人生哲学）
chaise longue [ˌʃeɪz ˈlɒŋ] 躺椅，贵妃椅，长靠椅
hedonist [ˈhiːdənɪst] n. 享乐主义者，快乐主义者
masochist [ˈmæsəkɪst] n. 受虐狂（从痛苦中获得快感的人）
hedone [hɪˈdəʊni] n. 愉悦，快乐（古希腊语源）
Democritus [dɪˈmɒkrɪtəs] n. 德谟克利特（古希腊哲学家）
Aristippus [ˌærɪˈstɪpəs] n. 亚里斯提卜（古希腊哲学家）
Epicurus [ˌepɪˈkjʊərəs] n. 伊壁鸠鲁（古希腊哲学家）
thrill-seeker [ˈθrɪl siːkə(r)] n. 追求刺激者
ataraxia [ˌætəˈræksiə] n. 心平气和，心神安定，平静（古希腊哲学概念）
tranquility [træŋˈkwɪləti] n. 安宁，平静，宁静
earth-shattering [ˈɜːθ ˌʃætərɪŋ] adj. 惊天动地的，震撼性的，极其重大的
epicurean [ˌepɪkjʊˈriːən] adj. 伊壁鸠鲁（学派）的，享乐主义的
vintage champagne [ˈvɪntɪdʒ ʃæmˈpeɪn] 年份香槟（单一年份采收的葡萄酿造的香槟）
hedonistic [ˌhiːdəˈnɪstɪk] adj. 享乐主义的，快乐主义的，纵情享乐的
likelihood [ˈlaɪklihʊd] n. 可能，可能性
exacting [ɪɡˈzæktɪŋ] adj. 严苛的，苛求的，费力的
modest [ˈmɒdɪst] adj. 质朴的，朴素的，适度的
score [skɔː(r)] n. 门道，真相，实情
comfy chair [ˈkʌmfi] 舒适的椅子
a bed of nails [neɪlz] 钉床（比喻艰难痛苦的处境）
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