What is good?

Question

I want to get your thoughts on Plato's question "are things pleasurable because they are good or good because they are pleasurable?"
I know what plato had to say, so dont just quote him, i want all of your thoughts.

Answer 1

In other words Plato here is wondering if human beings are more rational or more emotional. He's not really questioning the basis of good and pleasurable.You could paraphrase it as-- do we decide what to feel towards something because we have first reasoned and observed it or does what we "rationalize" derive from feeling. Seeing that some cultures in the world can view one thing as good and other cultures can view the same thing as bad, I would say we are much more emotionally based.

Answer 2

Things are pleasureable because they are good makes much better sense, than the reverse statement. Not all pleasureable things are good.

For example, there are twisted souls on this planet that take pleasure in inflicting pain on others, raping, torturing. I don't know of any society that would consider these behaviors good, some people derive pleasure from these acts.

Answer 3

I think it´s both, and yet not one. If something is pleasurable, in time, you will surely come to regard it as good, it´s a primal instinct, something which doesn´t hurt you, on the contrary, something you like and enjoy, eventually will turn into good. The other way around is more difficult though, it´s a road the thinkers among us decide to take. To first decide whether something is good or not, means we do not let our judgment be hindered by great personal implication, but once we deem it good enough, is it natural to enjoy it? I think so, yes, because if not, what would the point of the judging process be? Thinkers take that road, because mainly they wish to think, they do not wish to rely on feeling, while the others, relying on feeling make their own assumption over what good is. But, does it really matter, don´t they have the same outcome?

Answer 4

goodness and pleasure are not very easy to define in terms of objective reality; its just a matter of your subjective experience. goodness and pleasure do not inhere in things but are imparted by percieving subjects. so if you want an answer to this question you are going to have to seek within yourself. what gives you pleasure? what is good for you? where do they coincide? disjunct? sometimes pain can be so sweet. doctors recommend that schizophrenics smoke because it relieves the intensity of their state of mind, and they make a utilitarian call that it is better for a schizophrenic to live decades and die of lung cancer than it is for him or her to jump off a bridge in anguish tomorrow and upset friends and loved ones. the sweet sublime feelings I get when I escape into fantasy are pleasurable, but painful too because they contrast so starkly with what is real. I suppose they are good because they mitigate certain intolerable shortcomings in the reality of my life, but at the same time they are just fantasies and they do not bring me any practical advantage. I personally believe that everything is good, and anything can be an object of pleasure. but that does not necessarily mean that it is so for me, or that it is such at this moment in time. conversely this also means these same things can be evil and without pleasure. after all, everything is everything. what is your capacity for anything in this moment? find out.

Answer 5

pleasurable because they are good. Like the feeling you get when you do something nice for another.

Answer 6

I guess it depends on your definiton of "good." I don't believe that everything pleasurable is necessarily good. Nor do I believe that everything good is necessarily pleasurable. Plato sounds kinda' overrated to me! ;-)

Answer 7

as with all things plato brought up, it is a vague question. truly, things are pleasurable because they are pleasurable. things are good because they are good. some things are both good and pleasurable (having sex with someone you love). some things are good and not pleasurable (such as quitting smoking). other things are pleasurable and not good (such as having sex with someone you love's sister).

Answer 8

Pain is also pleasurable sometimes, pleasure is also pain some times, bad is also good sometimes, good is also bad sometimes.

Recall your memory

Answer 9

that is a good question, but i wouldn't say it was pleasurable. and enjoying the money someone steals is pleasurable but it is not good. so they really ex themselves out.

Answer 10

I don't think things are good because they feel good, or thinks feel good because they are pleasurable. I think that what is good is doing what is right.