Hedonism
Etymology
From Greek "hedone," "pleasure." Two ancient schools shaped it: the Cyrenaics, founded by Aristippus, who chased immediate bodily pleasure, and Epicurus, who redefined it as tranquility and the absence of pain — a far quieter ideal than the modern word suggests. The English “-ism” dates to the 1800s.
noun · /HEE-duh-niz-um/
The view that pleasure is the highest good and the proper aim of life.
What it names
A handle for a whole orientation toward living — organizing choices around what feels good — and, in ethics, the claim that pleasure is what ultimately makes a life go well.
Example
His weekend hedonism was strategic, he claimed — a deliberate reward that made the disciplined weekdays bearable.
Related idea
Utilitarianism borrows hedonism’s currency of pleasure but turns it outward, asking not what pleases you but what maximizes well-being for everyone affected.