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Epicurus and his followers defined the highest pleasure as the absence of suffering, and pleasure itself as "freedom from pain in the body and freedom from turmoil in the soul". According to Cicero (or rather his [[character]] Torquatus), he also believed that pleasure was the chief good (and, conversely, that pain was the chief evil).

Epicurus and his followers defined the highest pleasure as the absence of suffering, and pleasure itself as "freedom from pain in the body and freedom from turmoil in the soul". According to Cicero (or rather his [[character]] Torquatus), he also believed that pleasure was the chief good (and, conversely, that pain was the chief evil).

The 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer understood pleasure as a negative sensation, as it negates the usual existential condition, that of suffering.

The 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer understood pleasure as a negative sensation, as it negates the usual existential condition, that of suffering.

 

==Philosophies of pleasure==

==Philosophies of pleasure==

Utilitarianism and Hedonism are philosophies that advocate increasing to the maximum the amount of pleasure and minimizing the amount of suffering. Examples of such philosophies are some of Freud's theories of human motivation that have been called psychological hedonism; his "life instinct" is essentially the observation that people will pursue pleasure.[citation needed]

Utilitarianism and Hedonism are philosophies that advocate increasing to the maximum the amount of pleasure and minimizing the amount of suffering. Examples of such philosophies are some of Freud's theories of human motivation that have been called psychological hedonism; his "life instinct" is essentially the observation that people will pursue pleasure.[citation needed]