hedonism in the modern age

I usually don’t consider the long-term results of my actions. Yesterday, I spent hours rereading American Psycho instead of studying for my history midterm because I figured that in the long-term it’s more valuable to be able to whip out Patrick Bateman references than it is to know the specifics of the Haitian revolution, right? 

I’m also writing this in my Intro to Philosophy class instead of listening to the discussion on utilitarianism that will 100% be on the final in May, because I find it harder to prioritize the long-term.

In this class discussion that I’m vaguely aware of, my professor is discussing Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill’s views on utilitarianism and hedonism. Mill says the goal of utilitarianism is to base your actions on the best long-term benefit. He says higher pleasures, like reading philosophy (shocker), are preferable to lower, bodily pleasures. Hedonism can serve as an ethical guideline, as long as it’s based in the higher pleasures, and not in simple pleasures, he says.

The discussion reminded me of a picture that was floating around the Internet a few weeks ago. It’s a cartoon of a skeleton lying in a casket, hands crossed against its chest. The caption reads, “I’m totally glad I went to college.” Mill’s view dictates that college is good because it’s a path to higher mental pleasures. Popular culture dictates that college is useless if it doesn’t make you happy.

I’m not unhappy at school, but it’s not exactly thrilling to sit in the library all afternoon. Both extremes of hedonism are everywhere here. Parties are full of sweaty undergrads hot in pursuit of the basest form of pleasure – sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. The library is full of students reading the aforementioned Bentham and Mill or studying business law in the hope of finding happiness once they graduate, find a job, meet their soul mate, make millions, retire to Florida and die.

Mill’s idea of higher pleasures is particularly motivating, but not particularly easy to actually attain. College is hedonism to the extreme – every activity is motivated by the lowest or by the highest form of pleasure. Cheap happiness comes weekend nights when I find myself dancing with my best friends to the latest mass-produced pop hit sung by a bleached blond with extensive plastic surgery and remixed by some Swedish DJ. 

On the weekdays, my peers and I are motivated by the appeal of future success, but on the weekends we're motivated by the cheap thrills that are so easy to come by in college. Our actions are motivated by pleasure, but in college, it seems like there's nothing in between the two extremes: it's either beer or Bentham.