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ИСТОРИЯ ФИЛОСОФИИ HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2022-12-4-208-212
Focus: Some Thoughts on Hedonistic Outlook on Life
Xin Huilia ©, Xiao Chengyongb ©
School of Marxism of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai, China
a E-mail: xinhuili2005@163.com b E-mail: xchengyong@163.com
Abstract. In the process of economic development and social transformation, individuals and society often face severe challenges from the hedonistic outlook on life. The hedonistic outlook on life emphasizes the "materiality-reality" of life, attempts to reduce human beings from rational and spiritual existence to human perceptual and material levels, ignores the premise that life must learn to work and create wealth. Without ideals and beliefs, the hedonistic outlook on life cannot find the real destination in life. This will cause serious harm to young people. Therefore, it is very important to explore a more correct direction and way for today's society, especially young people, to cultivate the habits or qualities of studious and diligent work.
Key words: hedonistic outlook on life, enjoyment, thoughts
Acknowledgments. The work described in this paper was fully sponsored by a grant from Scientific Research Project of SHUPL (Shanghai University of Political Science and Law):"Research on the cultivation path of college students' psychological capital in the perspective of psychological education".(Project No.:2022XJ20).
FOR CITATION: Xin Huili, Xiao Chengyong. Focus: Some Thoughts on Hedonistic Outlook on Life. Sociopolitical Sciences. 2022. Vol. 12. No. 4. Pp. 208-212. DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2022-12-4-208-212
DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2022-12-4-208-212
Акцент: некоторые мысли о гедонистическом взгляде на жизнь
Xin Huilia ©, Xiao Chengyongb ©
Школа марксизма Шанхайского университета политических наук и права, Шанхай, Китай
a E-mail: xinhuili2005@163.com ь E-mail: xchengyong@163.com
Аннотация. В процессе экономического развития и социальных преобразований человек и общество нередко сталкиваются с серьезными вызовами со стороны гедонистического взгляда на жизнь. Гедонистический взгляд на жизнь делает упор на «материальность-реальность» жизни, пытается перевести людей от разумного и духовного существования к человеческому перцеп-туальному и материальному уровням, игнорирует предпосылку, что жизнь должна научить работать и создавать богатство. Без идеалов и верований, гедонистический взгляд на жизнь не может найти истинного предназначения в жизни, что нанесет серьезный вред молодым людям. Поэтому очень важно найти более правильное направление и способ для современного общества, особенно молодежи, воспитывать в себе привычки или качества прилежного и усердного труда.
Xin Huili, Xiao Chengyong
Ключевые слова: гедонистический взгляд на жизнь; удовольствие; мысли
Благодарности. Работа, описанная в этой статье, была полностью спонсирована грантом Научно-исследовательского проекта SHUPL (Шанхайский университет политических наук и права): «Исследование путей развития психологического капитала студентов колледжей в перспективе психологического образования». (Проект №: 2022XJ20).
ДЛЯ ЦИТИРОВАНИЯ: Xin Huili, Xiao Chengyong. Акцент: некоторые мысли о гедонистическом взгляде на жизнь // Социально-политические науки. 2022. Т. 12. № 4. С. 208-212. DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2022-12-4-208-212
INTRODUCTION
Hedonism is "the concept of enjoying happiness as the greatest happiness in life. Hedonist believes that sensual enjoyments, material physical enjoyments, are the purpose of life and the standard of good and evil. From the perspectives of biology and psychology, people are regarded as natural creatures, and the multi-level needs of people are simply attributed to the natural nature of seeking enjoyment and avoiding pain, and to the pursuit of physical sensual enjoyment. It's a rotten outlook on life" [1]. From a personal point of view, hedonism is a wrong value concept; from a social point of view, hedonism is a wrong ethos or trend of thought. "Hedonism is nothing but a false spiritual satisfaction, which is anti-rational and anti-moral in nature, and cannot become the emotional bond that connects the mass society" [2]. "What is striking about the rise and fall of civilizations - and it was the basis of the Philosophy of history of the talented Arabic thinker Ibn Khadun - is that societies pass through specific phases whose transformations signal decline. These are the transformations from simplicity to luxury (what Plato, who wrote about this in book of the Republic, call the change from healthy city to the fevered city), from asceticism to hedonism" [3: 82]. The hedonistic outlook on life has gradually become a climate in many countries, and it generally affects the youth group. The current discussion on "hedonism" is of great practical significance. Teenagers are the hope of the country and the nation, and the development of this group directly affects the future of the country. Therefore, a traditional moral education question arises: how to help young people to have a deeper and more accurate knowledge and understanding of hedonism and hedonism? In this regard, this article discusses some issues of the hedonistic outlook on life.
DEFINITION OF HEDONISTIC OUTLOOK ON LIFE
Marx pointed out: "Hedonism has always been a clever expression of famous people who enjoy the privilege of hedonism" [4]. The hedonistic outlook on life defines the goal and value of life in the enjoyment and consumption of material life, and believes that life is nothing but enjoyment and consumption, especially material enjoyment and consumption. It can be seen that the hedonistic outlook on life emphasizes the "materiality-reality" of life, attempts to reduce human beings from rational and spiritual existence to human perceptual and material levels, and even equates human beings with ordinary animals. In this sense, people seem to be on the same level, as long as they have material wealth they are equal and free. In other words, the hedonistic outlook on life believes that
the value of life lies only in the satisfaction of one's senses and material enjoyment, and takes this as the standard for measuring the value of life.
In human history, there is no shortage of hedonistic outlook on life. The modern hedonistic outlook on life belongs to the ideology of early capitalism. "The hedonism as a way of life promoted by the marketing system of business, constitutes the cultural contradiction of capitalism" [3: 84]. The market economy promotes the popularity of the hedonistic outlook on life, and is especially directly influenced by the British classic utilitarianism, which seeks to obtain happiness through the consumption activities of the commodity economy, so as to maximize happiness or happiness and minimize pain. Furthermore, utilitarianism believes that happiness or joy is the ultimate basis for judging good or evil, and the ultimate standard for people's behavior choices. "The actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness" [5].
THE MERITS AND DEMERITS
OF THE HEDONISTIC OUTLOOK ON LIFE
The hedonistic outlook on life is often a reaction to traditional asceticism. Asceticism believes that "The enjoyment of wealth with the consequence of idleness and the temptations of the flesh, above all of distraction from the pursuit of a righteous life" [6]. At the beginning of the Renaissance, we focused on people's spiritual redemption back to the sensory experience of material attributes, and finally returned to people's ordinary real life. As a social value, hedonism has adapted to the development of civil society and commodity economy, and has a positive and progressive development trend at the beginning. At the same time, as a kind of life value, it is in line with the empirical thinking and practical rationality of traditional Confucian culture. With the development of economy and society, people will naturally accept it.
There is an essential difference between enjoyment and hedonism. Enjoyment is the material and spiritual satisfaction that a person obtains through a certain way of life. It should be said that people focus on life itself, and the pursuit of enjoyment is understandable, and most of them are legitimate and reasonable. The reason is that, consistent with enjoyment and consumption, people's requirements and satisfaction for material needs and physical and mental health are more of a birthright and an objective condition for work and life, is an important goal pursued by the humanitarian movement after the European Enlightenment. Similarly, with the rapid development of the economy, money and wealth will inevitably become
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Социально-политические науки 209
the basis for pleasure or enjoyment. People have the right to earn money and create wealth through legal channels, so as to obtain the material wealth and spiritual enjoyment they deserve in life. Therefore, as one of human rights, enjoyment and consumption should not be deprived or excluded because of their rationality.
It must be pointed out that there are many drawbacks and negative effects in the hedonistic outlook on life. Mozi claimed in [A Condemnation of Musical Performances] "Those who labor upon the land survive, while those who do not perish" [7]. It refers to the principles or rules of life economics. In practice, hedonists often think that "life is alive, eat, drink and have fun", and life is just to enjoy the greatest joy in life. Obviously, this hedonistic outlook on life ignores the premise that life must learn to work and create wealth. "There is no free lunch in the world", this is the most basic law or rule in the world. Even more deadly, among the various possibilities or potentials of human beings, the hedonistic outlook on life also weakens the vitality and creativity of life, and realizes the value of life through one's own efforts. "In the hedonistic life, there is a loss of will and fortitude. More importantly, men become competitive with one another for luxuries, and lose the ability to share and sacrifice" [3: 83]. Because the hedonistic outlook on life obscures the ideals and beliefs that life should have, it reduces people to a tool for enjoyment and consumption, materializes them and stays at the level of material needs.
It can be seen that the hedonism claimed by the hedonistic outlook on life, the values of equality and freedom are doubtful, and the hedonistic outlook on life is not objective. On the one hand, the hedonistic outlook on life is unrealistic and unreliable. It naturally lacks the premise of labor and creation. "Hedonism pursues material enjoyment and sensual enjoyment, which will inevitably make people fall into a mental state of depression and lack of progress" [8]. On the other hand, the hedonistic outlook on life is negative, superficial and vulgar, it cannot take root in the deeper social life, and often makes people drift on the water like duckweed grass. In other words, if a society is dominated by a hedonistic outlook on life, people will weaken their responsibility to themselves, others and society, and lack ideals and beliefs in life and society. Even if the "enjoyment" of hedonism contains the element of spiritual enjoyment, the life of blind pursuit of enjoyment and consumption is still passive and instrumental, rather than active and creative. In a nutshell, the hedonistic outlook on life is more manifested as the desire for material possession and its dependence, and blindly taking this as the goal and criterion of life, life may become more empty and boring, seeking more and newer sensory stimulation, and even conspicuous enjoyment and consumption, which fully demonstrates the law of oscillation between enjoyment and emptiness.
CRITICISM OF HEDONISTIC OUTLOOK ON LIFE
Sometimes, the hedonistic outlook on life is the product of pessimism. The consciousness of life informs people that life is short and comes and goes in a hurry, and some people can only rely on material enjoyment and consumption to seek comfort and pass the time. Therefore,
the hedonistic outlook on life sometimes overflows in the prosperous times of economic development and prosperity, and sometimes occurs in times of hard life. In short, it lacks a deep understanding of life and society, as well as persistent pursuit and belief. Although life cannot predict social changes and individual destiny, people must be fully prepared and maintain a positive attitude and meet challenges. Moreover, the modern market economy provides a broader platform and freer choices for everyone's labor and creation. "In the process of modernization, if we only pay attention to external aspects, neglect, ignore or even belittle the reconstruction of the meaning system of social values, if we only pay attention to the improvement of material life, but ignore the improvement of spiritual life, if only pay attention to material wealth, ignore the creation of spiritual wealth, then we will not be able to realize the historical dream of modernization at all" [9]. The hedonistic outlook on life is often under the name of "realism", "materialism' or "liberalism", but in the inner world, it cannot get rid of its negative mood of pessimism and disappointment, on the contrary, "Rationality has some medical value, that is, rationality helps people in self-diagnosis and treatment of life problems" [10].
From the perspective of human alienation, the humanist philosopher Erich Fromm believes that hedonism is decadent, and the commodity economy may have a negative impact on life values, especially make people fall into a state of emptiness and boredom. He divided personality into five types according to their values: the Receptive Orientation, the Exploitative, the Hoarding Orientation, the Marketing Orientation, the Productive Orientation. The first four orientations (unproductive) focus on passive, demanding, conservative, outward appearances, the fifth "the 'productive orientation' of personality refers to a fundamental attitude, a mode of relatedness in all realms of human experience. It covers mental, emotional and sensory responses to others, to oneself, and to things. Productiveness is a man's ability to use his powers and to realize the potentialities inherent in him" [11]. From also believes that love is a kind of ability, incompetent people will not love, nor enjoy love [12]. This insight unearths and enhances human subjectivity, and makes morality manifest as human wisdom and ability. Because of the shortness of life, people should cherish and love it even more, and make the best of it as much as possible. Therefore, moral wisdom becomes the highest quality of man. Needless to say, people who are negatively affected by materialism, money worship, consumerism and hedonism, often focus on money and enjoyment, power and status in terms of life values, thus underestimate the real spiritual needs of the individual in the process of learning, labor and creation. Just as many people began to hear about the Nobel Prize, they only care about the amount of the prize or the halo of glory, and have absolutely no intention of the spiritual value of science, humanities and art to human life.
Monotonous enjoyment and consumption will degenerate and deteriorate life, even if it is a good "job", no matter how high the salary is, no matter how rich the leisure life is, if you have never worked enthusiastically and felt accomplished and satisfied in it, it's still the regret of life. Furthermore, only human learning and labor are
Xin Huili, Xiao Chengyong
never-ending. People's study, labor and creation are not only the premise of a good life, but also the essence of a good life. It can be said that ideals and beliefs in life cannot be vulgarized into a series of enjoyment and consumption life, but can only be further decomposed into professional social activities. In any historical environment, a life with ideals and beliefs is a life full of value and meaning. However, ideals and beliefs are not equally distributed according to the head, and often belong to those "wise and noble". To become a "wise man" or "noble person" with pursuit and sustenance, it is difficult to achieve without years of training and tempering. The unity of occupation and career is the ideal way to enter a happy life.
THE PURSUIT AND DESTINATION OF LIFE
The quality and level of life enjoyment and consumption are different, not only need to have a certain economic foundation, but also subject to people's own ability and cultivation level, the so-called"educational cultural capital". For example, without a good set of teeth and appetite, how can we enjoy the most delicious food in the world? Without a strong physique, how can we climb that lofty and dangerous peak to see the infinite scenery? Without the lofty aspirations and moral feelings in life, how can we experience the epic human stories of the classics? From this, we can find that the level of a person's enjoyment of life depends on the degree of his knowledge and understanding of life and the level of investment and dedication to society. Therefore, the modern physicist Einstein once believed that "the value of life lies in giving, not taking" [13]. So, is life really just for enjoyment and consumption? Or just go for sensual or material enjoyments? Not at all. It can be said that even the "poverty", "pain" and "frustration", which are the opposite of enjoyment, are the resources that contain rich and colorful life wealth and life value, happiness or life comparison function.
In life and work, people will encounter many difficulties, and when they overcome one after another, it is a round of self-improvement and promotion. It truly distinguishes people from animals, even through the years of life full of risks and hardships, and appreciates the full meaning of life and society in the success or failure of challenges. Otherwise, how can we understand and realize more, more comprehensive, deeper and richer life value beyond animal life. As mentioned above, enjoyment and consumption, labor and creation and their wealth should also be a relationship that coexists and complements each other. Therefore, it is very important for young people to have less unearned satisfaction and develop the habit of being eager to learn and work hard. In fact, middle-aged and elderly people should also have sustenance and pursuit with a pure heart. If there is no source of happiness for learning, labor and creation, then what attitude, method and approach do people use to find the true meaning of happiness in life? Moreover, enjoyment is divided into material and spiritual, inferior and superior, temporary and permanent. From a higher level and meaning, the unremitting pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty, as well as labor and creation itself, is a high-level and noble enjoyment. "Only by occupying the spiritual world with beautiful beliefs, can we resist the erosion of fashion on personality, purify the spiritual
space, and establish noble ideals and spiritual pursuits. This is the cornerstone of our foothold in the new society" [14].
CONCLUSION
Xi Jinping made it clear at the speech at a conference marking the centenary of the May 4th Movement "In the new era young people must nurture and practice the core socialist values, draw nourishment from traditional Chinese virtues, learn from heroes and role models of the times, and enhance your moral integrity through introspection. You should recognize illustrious virtue, follow social ethics, and restrict personal desires, while guarding against temptations such as worship of money, self-indulgence, overly self-centered pursuits, and historical nihilism. You should aim high and look far to pursue a more lofty and fulfilling life, so that integrity and vitality will prevail throughout our society" [15]. Therefore, in today's era, young people should establish correct life goals and pursuits, cultivate the habits and qualities of being eager to learn and work diligently, and abandon the negative influence of wrong thoughts such as hedonism. A hedonistic outlook on life lacking ideals and beliefs is unable to truly find a destination in life. "An individual or nation whose body enters modern society and enjoys modern material wealth, but whose spirit remains in the past, can only be a modern spiritual dwarf, and will not become an existence of modern civilization, so there is no future" [9].
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Статья проверена программой Антиплагиат
Р е ц е н з е н т: Юэ Ця, PhD, доцент; научный руководитель магистранта Шанхайского политико-юридического университета, заместитель начальника Центра исследований при Комиссии по юридическим услугам для ШОС (Китай); пост-доктор Восточно-китайского политико-юридического университета; член редколлегии журнала «Социально-политические науки»; заместитель генерального секретаря советского отделения Шанхайской ассоциации зарубежных ученых (SORSA)
Статья поступила в редакцию 14.07.2022, принята к публикации 26.08.2022 The article was received on 14.07.2022, accepted for publication 26.08.2022
СВЕДЕНИЯ ОБ АВТОРАХ
Xin Huili, доцент Школы марксизма Шанхайского университета политических наук и права. Шанхай, Китай. E-mail: xinhuili2005@163.com
Xiao Chengyong, профессор Школы марксизма Шанхайского университета политических наук и права. Шанхай, Китай. E-mail: xchengyong@163.com
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Xin Huili, associate professor at the School of Marxism of the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. Shanghai, China. E-mail: xinhuili2005@163.com
Xiao Chengyong, Professor at the School of Marxism of the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. Shanghai, China. E-mail: xchengyong@163.com
