Philosophy Sez the Most Important Thing Is To Have a Good Time at This Party

New ideas in science and thought, so pay attention.  Philosopher David Brax has penned a dissertation about what we value and why.  A multifarious disquisition into complex motivations and impulses, no doubt, right?

His theory develops the hedonistic philosophical tradition, with roots in antiquity. It posits that pleasure is the only thing that is valuable in itself.

But wait – what about all those other important things we value, like love, spirituality, friendship, and smirking at the other cars as we blast through the EZ Pass lane?  

“If we want to understand what value is, we need to examine both how and why we value things. My theory is based on the observation that the pleasure system is central to these explanations. Why do we feel that friendship is valuable? Because friendship is so often associated with positive feelings. For many values the explanation is considerably more complicated, but their origin is the pleasure system.”

Friends are basically just amphetamines that forget when it’s your birthday!  The guy’s ideas are neither new nor baseless, but still, I’d love to have heard his dissertation defense.  ”So everything we value is based in pleasure?”  ”Well, yes, the pleasure system incentivizes the relationships and goals we pursue–”  ”You’re talking a lot of words, but all I’m hearing is ‘waterslides are the most important thing.’  Would you agree that waterslides are the most important thing?  And maybe when you splash down at the end, someone is making balloon animals and playing a kazoo?  I’m just kidding, here’s your Philosopher Card.  Make sure you sign the back, or you won’t get the discount at the movies.  Also, don’t forget Tuesdays are Dollar Philosophy Night at Willy’s.”

Source: Science Daily.