Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!microsof!uw-beaver!ubc-visi!sample From: sample@ubc-visi.UUCP Newsgroups: net.philosophy Subject: Re: Life as the basis of morality Message-ID: <394@ubc-visi.UUCP> Date: Thu, 7-Jul-83 14:05:01 EDT Article-I.D.: ubc-visi.394 Posted: Thu Jul 7 14:05:01 1983 Date-Received: Fri, 8-Jul-83 17:53:22 EDT References: mit-eddie.403 Lines: 16 Concerning happiness as the basis of good, Doug Alan says: Would you then say that the ultimate "good" thing to do would be to permanently plug everyone in the world into a machine that maximally stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain -- even if many people do not want to be plugged into this machine? He equates happiness with pleasure, which is not the usual definition of happiness. It seems to me that if one defines good using happiness, one has merely shifted the problem to the definition of happiness. I believe Aristotle was the first to use this sort of an argument, except that it is not clear that the word he used (evdemonia (sp?)) can be directly translated as "happiness". Rick Sample