Hedonism.

享樂主義

Hedonism is the philosophy of living your life to experience pleasure and avoid pain.

享樂主義是一種體驗快樂、避免痛苦的生活哲學。

So, if you're watching this while lying on a chaise longue and eating sweets, you're probably a hedonist.

所以，如果你一邊躺在貴妃椅上吃著甜食一邊看這部電影，那你可能是個享樂主義者。

Oh, unless you hate sugar, in which case, you're probably a masochist, and that is another film.

哦，除非你討厭糖，那樣的話，你可能是個受虐狂，那就是另一部電影了。

The word hedonism comes from the ancient Greek, hedone, meaning pleasure.

享樂主義一詞源於古希臘語 "hedone"，意為快樂。

And some of the earliest recorded hedonists were Greek, Democritus, Aristippus, and most famously, the 4th century BCE philosopher, Epicurus.

有記載的最早的享樂主義者是希臘人：德謨克利特、阿里斯提普斯，以及最著名的公元前 4 世紀的哲學家伊壁鳩魯。

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.

儘管伊壁鳩魯並不像他的享樂主義所暗示的那樣追求刺激，但對伊壁鳩魯來說，人類最好的狀態是一種他稱之為 "安寧"（ataraxia）的狀態。

Epicurus believed that small pleasures were more likely to bring us tranquility than earth-shattering pleasures, and it's easy to see his point.

伊壁鳩魯認為，小快樂比驚天動地的快樂更能給我們帶來寧靜，他的觀點不難理解。

If you find pleasure in a glass of wine with friends at the end of a day, that will be relatively easy to achieve.

如果你覺得在一天結束時與朋友共飲一杯酒是一種享受，那就比較容易做到。

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.

最重要的是，對於伊壁鳩魯思想家來說，這意味著也很容易避免無法得到你所渴望的東西的痛苦，這種痛苦會擾亂你的安閒狀態。

But if you are only satisfied with vintage champagne, that might not be so easily found.

但如果您只滿足於陳年香檳，那可能就沒那麼容易找到了。

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.

你可能買不起，或者你朋友聚會的酒吧可能不提供，或者因為你在之前的享樂之夜喝光了，所以陳年老酒可能已經喝完了。

Your likelihood of experiencing pain goes up as you become more exacting in your standards of what you need to bring you pleasure.

當你對自己需要的快樂標準越來越嚴格時，你經歷痛苦的可能性就會增加。

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.

是以，儘管享樂主義假定我們在任何時候都要追求快樂，避免痛苦，但也許值得記住的是，更適度的快樂可能更容易找到，而且從長遠來看，可能會給你帶來更少的痛苦。

The true hedonist's goal.

真正享樂主義者的目標

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.

雖然我們可能並不總是認為自己是享樂主義者，但每當我們坐在舒適的椅子上而不是釘子床上時，我們都在做出享樂主義的選擇。

Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to my sweets. www.larryweaver.com

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