Hedonism Before Bentham. (1st January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Moen, Ole Martin
• Is Part Of: Journal of Bentham studies. Volume 17:Number 1(2015)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 18
• Publication Date: 2015-01-01
• Subjects: Aristippus -- Aristotle -- Hedonism -- History of Ethics -- Plato; Utilitarianism -- Periodicals; Utilitarianism -- History -- Periodicals; Utilitarianism; History; Periodicals; Periodicals; 144.6
• DOI: 10.14324/111.2045-757X.007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-757X

Abstract

Abstract : The hedonistic theories of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are both widely known. Hedonism before Bentham, however, is much less known and, hitherto, no systematic presentation of hedonism's early history has been written. In this paper I seek to fill this gap in the literature by providing an overview of hedonism in early Indian and ancient Greek thought (Sections 1-4), in Roman and Medieval thought (Section 5), and from the Renaissance until the Enlightenment (Section 6).