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Hegesias; the Death-Persuader; or, the Gloominess of Hedonism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2001

Wallace I. Matson
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Abstract

Hegesias (3d c.BC), as hedonist, held that the sage will kill himself. For: One should pursue pleasure and avoid pain. But life is virtually certain to contain more pain than pleasure. Therefore death, which is neither pleasurable nor painful, is better than life.

The flaw in the argument lies in the underlying game-theoretical model of life as a game in which play and payoff are distinct. Hegesias's conclusion, that life is not ‘worth living,’ is inescapable by any philosophy so based, including John Rawls's. Why shouldn't his rational persons behind the veil of ignorance opt for prenatal suicide?

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy , Volume 73 , Issue 4 , October 1998 , pp. 553 - 557
Copyright
© The Royal Institute of Philosophy 1998

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