第21章

wemustthereforeconceive，asatleastideallypossible，apointoftransitioninconsciousnessatwhichwepassfromthepositivetothenegative。Itisnotabsolutelynecessarytoassumethatthisstrictlyindifferentorneutralfeelingeveractuallyoccurs。Stillexperienceseemstoshowthatastateatanyrateverynearlyapproximatingtoitisevencommon:andwecertainlyexperiencecontinualtransitionsfrompleasuretopainandviceversa，andthus(unlessweconceiveallsuchtransitionstobeabrupt)wemustexistatleastmomentarily，inthisneutralstate。

InwhatIhavejustsaid，IhavebyimplicationdeniedtheparadoxofEpicurusthatthestateofpainlessnessisequivalenttothehighestpossiblepleasure；sothatifwecanobtainabsolutefreedomfrompain，thegoalofHedonismisreached，afterwhichwemayvary，butcannotincrease，ourpleasure。Thisdoctrineisopposedtocommonsenseandcommonexperience。Butitwould，Ithink，beequallyerroneous，ontheotherhand，toregardthisneutralfeeling——hedonisticzero，asIhavecalledit——asthenormalconditionofourconsciousness，outofwhichweoccasionallysinkintopain，andoccasionallyriseintopleasure。Naturehasnotbeensoniggardlytomanasthis:solongashealthisretained，andpainandirksometoilbanished，themereperformanceoftheordinaryhabitualfunctionsoflifeis，accordingtomyexperience，afrequentsourceofmoderatepleasures，alternatingrapidlywithstatesnearlyorquiteindifferent。Thuswemayventuretosaythatthe`apathy’

whichsolargeaproportionofGreekmoralistsinthepost-Aristotelianperiodregardedastheidealstateofexistence，wasnotreallyconceivedbythemas``withoutonepleasureandwithoutonepain’’；butratherasastateofplacidintellectualcontemplation，whichinphilosophicmindsmighteasilyreachahighdegreeofpleasure。

Wehaveyettogivetothenotionsofpleasureandpaintheprecisionrequiredforquantitativecomparison。Indealingwiththispoint，andintherestofthehedonisticdiscussion，itwillbeconvenientforthemostparttospeakofpleasureonly，assumingthatpainmayberegardedasthenegativequantityofpleasure，andthataccordinglyanystatementsmadewithrespecttopleasuremaybeatonceapplied，byobviouschangesofphrase，topain。

TheequivalentphraseforPleasure，accordingtoMr。Spencer，is``afeelingwhichweseektobringintoconsciousnessandretainthere’’；andsimilarly，Mr。Bainsaysthat``pleasureandpain，intheactualorrealexperience，aretobeheldasidenticalwithmotivepower’’。But——grantingthatpleasuresnormallyexcitedesire——itstilldoesnotseemtomethatIjudgepleasurestobegreaterandlessexactlyinproportionastheystimulatethewilltoactionstendingtosustainthem。OfcourseneitherMr。BainnorMr。Spencermustbeunderstoodtolaydownthatallpleasureswhenactuallyfeltactuallystimulatetoexertionofsomekind——sincethisisobviouslynottrueofthepleasuresofrepose，awarmbath，etc。Thestimulusmustinsuchcasesbeunderstoodtobelatentandpotential；onlybecomingactualwhenactionisrequiredtopreventthecessationordiminutionofthepleasure。Thusamanenjoyingrestafterfatigueisvaguelyconsciousofastrongclingingtohisactualcondition，andofalatentreadinesstoresistanyimpulsetochangeit。

Further，thestimulusofmoderatepleasuresandpainsmaybecomeunfeltthroughhabitualrepression。Forinstance，inahabituallytemperatemanthestimulustoprolongthepleasureofeatingordrinkingusuallyceasesbeforethepleasureceases:itisonlyoccasionallythathefeelstheneedofcontrollinganimpulsetoeatordrinkuptothepointofsatiety。Soagain，aprotractedpainofmoderateintensityandfreefromalarm——suchasadullprolongedtoothache——seemssometimestoloseitsfeltstimulustoactionwithoutlosingitscharacteraspain。Hereagainthestimulusmaybeproperlyconceivedaslatent:sinceifaskedwhetherweshouldliketogetridofevenamildtoothache，weshouldcertainlyansweryes。

Butevenifweconfineourattentiontocaseswherethestimulusispalpableandstrong，Mr。Bain’sidentificationof``pleasureandpain’’withmotivepowerdoesnotappeartometoaccordexactlywithourcommonempiricaljudgments。Hehimselfcontraststhe``disproportionatestrainofactivepowersinonedirection’’，towhich``anysuddenandgreatdelightmaygiverise’’，withthe``properframeofmindunderdelight’’，whichis``toinspirenoendeavoursexceptwhatthecharmofthemomentjustifies’’。

[2]Andheelsewhereexplainsthat``ourpleasurableemotionsareallliabletodetainthemindunduly’’，throughthe``atmosphereofexcitement’’withwhichtheyaresurrounded，carryingthemind``beyondtheestimateofpleasureandpain，tothestatenamed`passion’，’’inwhichamanisnot``movedsolelybythestrictvalueofthepleasure’’，butalsoby``theengrossingpoweroftheexcitement’’。[3]ItistruethatinsuchcasesMr。Bainseemstoholdthatthese``disturbancesandanomaliesofthewillscarcelybegintotellintheactualfeeling’’[4]，butitseemstomeclearthatexcitingpl