A Philosophy fit for Swine?

Epicurus is Greek philosopher who founded the Epicurean school in Athens that teaches,

"Pleasure is the principle and end to a happy life.". (Wasson, 2016) His teachings and way of

life will go for a very long time that will later on influenced some prominent philosophers such

as Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Friedrich Nietzsche to the Utilitarian philosophy. To

him, pleasure meant one must lead a life of restful contemplation, eating and drinking

moderately. One must live without anxiety, forgoing the wants and worries of life and enjoying

the "bliss of the gods." This will later on misinterpreted by non-Epicureans which argues, if life

has no higher end than pleasure, no better and nobler object of desire pursuit – they designated as

utterly mean and groveling, as a doctrine of a swine.

John Stuart Mill brought light to this misconception when he objected this idea other

projects as Utilitarianism. In this statement he argues that “Epicureanism is a doctrine only

worthy of swine by arguing that it is in this objection that “portrays human nature in a

degrading light” and not that of the utilitarian theory.” Mill argues that it is not reasonable for

objectors to state that pleasure is only for swine because animals and humans have different

capacities for pleasure. We as humans have what we call a rational soul that can recognize higher

values while animals only have a sensory soul. Mill also responds to this objection by first

clarifying there are two types of pleasure – the first is pleasure of the body, which is a shared

pleasure by both man and animal; the other is pleasure of the mind (imagination, intellect, moral

sentiment, etc.) which is a pleasure specifically available only to man. He elaborated what

Epicureans fail to show about pleasure that only focuses on physical pleasures. Not only does

Mill distinguish between mental and physical pleasures, he also distinguishes between quality of

pleasures and quantity of pleasures. This distinction is Mill’s attempt at further improving on
(Jeremy) Bentham’s thoughts on utilitarianism in which he states actions are determined by

quantity of pleasure alone – adding quality of pleasure as another factor to be considered.

References:

Essays, UK. (November 2018). Doctrine Of Swine Assignment Philosophy Essay. Retrieved

from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/philosophy/doctrine-of-swine-assignment-philosophy-

essay.php?vref=1

Wasson, D. L. (2016, September 7). Epicurus. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Epicurus/