A List of Life Pleasures

This list is a combination of self-reflection, observation, and reasoning regarding pleasure. It is both those that arise naturally and those that take some effort to seek out: day to day, week to week, and over a lifetime. It comes out of pondering foundational teachings of Epicurean philosophy. There are no writings of Epicurus that indicate that he thought through things in this manner, yet this might be a step toward understanding "natural and necessary" categories. This is not a complete list (I will add more soon), and it is a mix of personal and hypothetical pleasures (for example I don't play tennis but decided to list it as a sport). This may need to be re-organized, and the categories may need shifting also.

 

A List of Life Pleasures

I. Shorter duration

A. Shorter lasting and occur often or daily (for everyone) 

-eating: smelling, tasting, enjoying

-other brief pleasurable sensations of sight and sound

B. Shorter lasting and occur daily (but depends upon individual circumstances)
-playing with pet cat or dog (if you have one)
-kissing your life partner good-morning and good-night (if you have partner)

C. Shorter lasting and could occur daily or once or twice a week (but depends on the individual)
-hugging friends when you see them
-dancing in your living room
-listening to enjoyable music
-pleasure of the procurement of needed food and sundries   

D. Shorter lasting and only occurs rarely or occassionally
-receiving a present on your birthday or Christmas
-enjoying brand new clothing

II. Medium length duration

A. Pleasures of medium length (neither short nor long)
- reading a good book
- going on an adventure (hiking, camping, driving by car, train or plane trip, exploring a new place, vacationing)
- engaging in a sport (boating, fishing, mountain biking, tennis, etc)

B. Medium length (neither short nor long) and occurs daily or weekly (and it depends upon your circumstances)
-date night with partner (if you have a partner)
-a lunch or dinner occassion with good friend(s) (if you have friends)

-cuddling or sexual expression with a partner (if you have partner)

-engaging in art/craft/sport 

III. Longer lasting duration (longest lasting)

-the enjoyment of studying of philosophy
-engaging in a lifelong hobby (arts/crafts/music)
-long-term friendship
-the pleasure of being together with people that you love
-the feeling of good health
-the pleasure of making wise choices which lead to good outcomes
-helping out friends and family (and being certain of reciprocity)

 

IV. Guarenteed pleasures (occur naturally and easy to come by)

-eating-smelling, tasting, enjoying 

-activities which soothe the vagus nerve -- a warm bath/shower, breath meditation, soothing music 

-light exercise - stretching, going for a walk 

-the feeling and scent of clean clothes/sheets

-the feeling of sunshine on your face  

V. The pleasure which comes from the removal of pain
-relief of quenching thirst
-relief of eating to remove hunger
-resting after hard work
-recovery from illness (or pain relief from aspirin)
-quietude after too much noise
-seeing familar faces after being amongst strangers

 VI. Remembrance of past pleasures
-remembering good holidays or vacations
-remembering pleasant sights seen
-remembering good moments with friends and family
-remembering past important accomplishments

VII. Anticipation of future pleasures
-imagining
-planning