Pursuit of pleasure
This point is still not terribly coherent but I'll plough on anyway and hope it becomes clearer as I go along.
I've been pondering the pursuit of pleasure in the context of our moral economy. It seems to me that pleasure is rather looked down upon as a means of occupying ones time. While I agree that the pursuit of pleasure to the exclusion of all else is to be avoided, surely there's not much wrong with pursuing as much pleasure as possible over the path of your life? Well, apparently there is.
Chief culprit in my mind is our protestant work ethic, kept alive so neatly by our current version of capitalist economy. It is 'good' and 'right' to be an unquestioning worker, dedicating a third of our waking hours to labour. A similar amount of time should also be occupied with the task of consuming as much as possible with the money doled out in return for our labour. In this context even 'leisure time' is viewed as a means to occasionally relax and stay healthy for the purpose of remaining an effective productive unit. Pleasure for its own sake has no place in this model since it serves no apparent function and even if one wanted to indulge in same, one may have little time for it.*
The blame cannot be laid solely on our 'society' (whatever that means) however. I believe strongly in people's capacity to be complete and utter arseholes. When speaking of polyamory (or just enjoying sex), many of the negative reactions I've had seem to centre around one line of argument, the core of which is something like: "I'm not having that much fun, so you shouldn't be either." This sentiment inspires me to exhibit behaviour of the thumbs-in-ears, waggling-hands, yelling-"naa-nanana-naaa" variety, especially when the speaker's sense of opprobrium comes from the (incorrect) idea that they somehow support my shenanigans with their income tax.
The "I can claim moral superiority because I suffer more" argument just doesn't wash with me, I'm afraid. I believe we're all here for a finite amount of time and the pursuit of pleasure could be one of the most important journeys toward a fulfilled and joyful life. Taking that journey without creating detrimental effects on others is quite a challenge however and perhaps this is a good reason to amass advice and best practice, rather than subsume our desire for pleasure beneath punitive-productive moral frameworks.
And... sex is great.
*apologies for mangling their thoughts should go to: Bertrand Russell, Tom Hodgkinson, Karl Marx, Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, Michael Bywater, Alain de Botton among others...
I've been pondering the pursuit of pleasure in the context of our moral economy. It seems to me that pleasure is rather looked down upon as a means of occupying ones time. While I agree that the pursuit of pleasure to the exclusion of all else is to be avoided, surely there's not much wrong with pursuing as much pleasure as possible over the path of your life? Well, apparently there is.
Chief culprit in my mind is our protestant work ethic, kept alive so neatly by our current version of capitalist economy. It is 'good' and 'right' to be an unquestioning worker, dedicating a third of our waking hours to labour. A similar amount of time should also be occupied with the task of consuming as much as possible with the money doled out in return for our labour. In this context even 'leisure time' is viewed as a means to occasionally relax and stay healthy for the purpose of remaining an effective productive unit. Pleasure for its own sake has no place in this model since it serves no apparent function and even if one wanted to indulge in same, one may have little time for it.*
The blame cannot be laid solely on our 'society' (whatever that means) however. I believe strongly in people's capacity to be complete and utter arseholes. When speaking of polyamory (or just enjoying sex), many of the negative reactions I've had seem to centre around one line of argument, the core of which is something like: "I'm not having that much fun, so you shouldn't be either." This sentiment inspires me to exhibit behaviour of the thumbs-in-ears, waggling-hands, yelling-"naa-nanana-naaa" variety, especially when the speaker's sense of opprobrium comes from the (incorrect) idea that they somehow support my shenanigans with their income tax.
The "I can claim moral superiority because I suffer more" argument just doesn't wash with me, I'm afraid. I believe we're all here for a finite amount of time and the pursuit of pleasure could be one of the most important journeys toward a fulfilled and joyful life. Taking that journey without creating detrimental effects on others is quite a challenge however and perhaps this is a good reason to amass advice and best practice, rather than subsume our desire for pleasure beneath punitive-productive moral frameworks.
And... sex is great.
*apologies for mangling their thoughts should go to: Bertrand Russell, Tom Hodgkinson, Karl Marx, Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, Michael Bywater, Alain de Botton among others...