第24章

Butagain，ifthesejudgmentsarenotclearanddefinite，stilllessaretheyconsistent。Idonotnowmeanthatoneman’sestimateofthevalueofanykindofpleasuresdiffersfromanother’s:

forwehaveassumedeachsentientindividualtobethefinaljudgeofthepleasantnessandpainfulnessofhisownfeelings，andthereforethiskindofdiscrepancydoesnotaffectthevalidityofthejudgments，andcreatesnodifficultyuntilanyonetriestoappropriatetheexperienceofothers，ButImeanthateachindividual’sjudgmentofthecomparativevalueofhisownpleasuresisapttobedifferentatdifferenttimes，thoughitrelatestothesamepastexperiences；andthatthisvariationisalegitimategroundfordistrustingthevalidityofanyparticularcomparison。

Thecausesofthisvariationseemtobepartlyduetothenatureoftherepresentedfeeling，andpartlytothegeneralstateofthemindatthetimeofmakingtherepresentation。Tobeginwiththeformer:wefindthatdifferentkindsofpastpleasuresandpainsdonotequallyadmitofbeingrevivedinimagination。Thus，generallyspeaking，ourmoreemotionalandmorerepresentativepainsaremoreeasilyrevivedthanthemoresensationalandpresentative:forexample，itisatthismomentmuchmoreeasyformetoimaginethediscomfortofexpectancywhichprecededapastsea-sicknessthanthepainoftheactualnausea:althoughIinfer——fromtherecollectionofjudgmentspassedatthetime——thattheformerpainwastriflingcomparedwiththelatter。Tothiscauseitseemsduethatpasthardships，toils，andanxietiesoftenappearpleasurablewhenwelookbackuponthem，aftersomeinterval；fortheexcitement，theheightenedsenseoflifethataccompaniedthepainfulstruggle，wouldhavebeenpleasurableiftakenbyitself；anditisthisthatwerecallratherthanthepain。Inestimatingpleasurestheothercauseofvariationismoreconspicuous；weareconsciousofchangesoccasionalorperiodicinourestimateofthem，dependinguponchangesinourmentalorbodilycondition。E。g。itisamatterofcommonremarkwithrespecttothegratificationsofappetitethatwecannotestimatethemadequatelyinthestateofsatiety，andthatweareapttoexaggeratetheminthestateofdesire。(Idonotdenythatintensityofantecedentdesireintensifiesthepleasureoffruition；

sothatthispleasurenotonlyappears，asPlatothought，butactuallyisgreaterowingtothestrengthofthedesirethathaspreceded。Stillitisamatterofcommonexperiencethatpleasureswhichhavebeenintenselydesiredareoftenfoundtodisappointexpectation。)

Thereseemtobenospecialstatesofaversion，determinedbybodilycauses，andrelatedtocertainpainsasourappetitestotheircorrespondentpleasures；butmostpersonsareliabletobethrownbytheprospectofcertainpainsintothestateofpassionateaversionwhichwecallfear，andtobetherebyledtoestimatesuchpainsasworsethantheywouldbejudgedtobeinacalmermood。

Further，whenfeelinganykindofpainoruneasinessweseemliabletounderratepainofaverydissimilarkind:thusindangerwevaluerepose，overlookingitsennui，whilethetediumofsecuritymakesusimaginethemingledexcitementofpastdangerasalmostpurelypleasurable。Andagainwhenweareabsorbedinanyparticularpleasantactivity，thepleasuresattendingdissimilaractivitiesareapttobecontemned:

theyappearcoarseorthin，asthecasemaybe:andthisconstitutesafundamentalobjectiontonotingtheexactdegreeofapleasureatthetimeofexperiencingit。Theeagerdesire，whichoftenseemsanindispensableelementofthewholestateofpleasurableactivity，generallyinvolvesasimilarbias:indeedanystrongexcitement，inwhichourthoughtisconcentratedonasingleresultorgroupofresults——whetheritbetheexcitementofaversion，fear，hope，orsuspense——tendstomakeusinappreciativeofalienpleasuresandpainsalike。And，speakingmoregenerally，wecannotimagineasveryintenseapleasureofakindthatatthetimeofimaginingitweareincapableofexperiencing:as(e。g。)thepleasuresofintellectualorbodilyexerciseatthecloseofawearyingday；oranyemotionalpleasurewhenoursusceptibilitytothespecialemotionistemporarilyexhausted。Ontheotherhand，itisnoteasytoguardagainsterror，asphilosophershaveoftenthought，bymakingourestimateinacoolandpassionlessstate。Fortherearemanypleasureswhichrequireprecedentdesire，andevenenthusiasmandhighlywroughtexcitement，inordertobeexperiencedintheirfullintensity；anditisnotlikelythatweshouldappreciatetheseadequatelyinastateofperfecttranquillity。

TheseconsiderationsmakeclearertheextentoftheassumptionsofEmpiricalQuantitativeHedonism，statedintheprecedingchapter:viz。(1)thatourpleasuresandpainshaveeachadefinitedegree，and(2)thatthisdegreeisempiricallycognisable。Firstly，ifpleasureonlyexistsasitisfelt，thebeliefthateverypleasureandpainhasadefiniteintensivequantityordegreemustremainanaprioriassumption，incapableofpositiveempiricalverification。Forthepleasurecanonlyhavethedegreeascomparedwithotherfeelings，ofthesameorsomedifferentkind；but，generallyspeaking，sincethiscomparisoncanonlybemadeinimagination，itcanonlyyieldthehypotheticalresultthatifcertainfeelingscouldbefelttogether，preciselyastheyhavebeenfeltseparately，onewouldbefoundmoredesirablethantheotherinsomedefiniteratio。

If，then，weareaskedwhatgro