Art in all its manifestations brings beauty to a person, decorates his life, and brings deep aesthetic joys. The pleasure of contact with works of art develops creative potential and improves the person himself. What is this hedonic function? What is this? This function of art, culture and family will be discussed in the article.
The hedonic function of art
Art is meant to please people. For example, the ancient Greeks noted the unique spiritual nature of aesthetic pleasure and separated it from carnal pleasures.
The following sources of fruiting of works of art are distinguished:
- there is a moment of play in the work.
- the works harmoniously combine artistic forms and content;
- a person feels attached to a work of art, experiences the joy of co-creation;
- artistic reality is built according to the laws of beauty and harmony and is ordered;
- freedom always evokes admiration and pleasure, and if an artist is free to understand the issues of life, then his works are filled with freedom and aesthetic richness of the surrounding world;
- the artist skillfully relates all phenomena to humanity and knows how to reveal the aesthetic side of any object or phenomenon;
The atmosphere of the game is always exciting. For example, the precise use of rhyme, skillful sentence construction, and the melody of speech create a sense of play or verbal entertainment in the reader. Paul Valéry called poetry a game in which you play with words, phrases, words.
Art gives a person selfless pleasure and joy. It shapes a person’s creative activity and his socialization.
Artistic creativity and art are valuable because they reveal to a person the truth about life and at the same time give him the joy of understanding harmony and beauty.
The hedonic function of art determines its unique abilities:
- awaken creativity.
- form and develop aesthetic tastes;
When making household items, a table or a chair, a person cares about their purpose and beauty. Art does not have a monopoly on harmony and beauty. A person needs a feeling of beauty, and he creates it.
Basic principles of hedonism
Modern European society has recognized the doctrines of pleasures - they have gained mass popularization. It is natural that a person sees the meaning of life in bliss and satisfaction of needs. Predominant qualities:
- the desire to receive worldly goods - bodily, physical;
- development of the boundaries of one’s own independence;
- contempt for civilian, personal responsibilities that limit the needs of a person;
- lack of desire to try - in obtaining education and in work, development, dispute resolution.
The principle of modern hedonism is the direction of activity towards pleasure and positive emotions to obtain happiness.
Inheriting a theory causes inconvenience:
- interferes with personal and career growth;
- contradicts moral standards;
- provokes health problems.
People have one thing in common: they are motivated not by intellect, but by instinct.
Television and Internet
Television and the Internet provide quick and easy access to entertainment. Thanks to them, people have fun, are entertained, and receive information in a fun and engaging way. An example of the hedonistic function of art is the promotion of pleasure in worship and its proclamation as the main purpose of human life, which is what television, newspapers and the Internet pursue. The hedonistic approach to life is the pursuit of pleasure, and the end justifies all the means. On the way home from work, we turn on the TV or start surfing the Internet, and we do it, presumably for no reason or purpose, to relax and have fun.
Today, people use the Internet and television for two reasons: for information and for entertainment. In addition, they are already so intertwined that it is difficult to separate them from each other; a person is looking for information, but expects it to be presented in an interesting and exciting way. While having fun, many people want to get information about a certain event or phenomenon.
Types of hedonism
Types 2 – psychological, ethical. Both consider pleasure to be the meaning of life.
Psychological
Is a suggestion of the human impulse to increase one's own joy. The only motive for action is the prospect of satisfying oneself and avoiding disappointment. It has the disadvantage of an excessive opinion about the role of emotions.
Psychological hedonism is based on the theory that a person’s actions are aimed at obtaining pleasure. Other desires help achieve this. This is a non-normative theory - it does not order actions to be performed, but only describes. Psychological hedonism is a definition of a narrow variation of the theory of egoism. They have similarities: both orientations are aimed at obtaining as much pleasure as possible.
Most philosophers reject PG.
Psychologists identify a separate type of hedonism - infantile, originating from childhood. If the parents spoiled the child, he will get used to it and, as an adult, will get the best from life. He won't give anything in return. This pattern of behavior is difficult to eradicate.
Ethical
This is a normative theory that a person should strive for bliss: his own (egoism) and universal (utilitarianism).
The ethical values in this case are:
- The more obvious ones are pleasure and benefit. Corresponds to human interests in life. The person striving for them expresses himself in an earthly way.
- Suffering and bliss perform the function of addiction. Pleasure affects the activity of the individual; its absence inhibits development.
- Protest to torment is the main meaning of actions, the basis of happiness.
These valuable qualities help a person to experience bliss in life. Hedonism in ethics refers to psychological concepts of a tranquil existence.
Reality TV and entertainment
Viewers, saturated with soaps and thrillers, declared the entertainment offered by the silver screen.
The greatest interest, a huge number of comments, rich emotions were caused by “reality shows”, which heighten all emotions and increase adrenaline. The use of these programs in entertainment and entertainment, as well as in the opportunities provided to ordinary people to start their profession or find themselves in life.
But these programs also bring harm: the falsehood, cynicism, and vulgarity of the participants form a destructive culture of youth. These programs encourage vulgarity; participants often have the illusion of popularity and importance in society.
Pros and cons of hedonism
There is no clear answer to the question. People interpret hedonism in different ways. Some consider it a pursuit of new experiences, others consider it a love of beautiful things.
Examples of negative consequences of hedonism:
- Lack of prospects - pleasure becomes boring, new activities are required. When they are passed, nothing brings joy to a person.
- Waste of time. In the search for bliss, the moment of making important decisions is missed.
- Impact on health.
- Binge eating.
- Drug addiction and other addictions.
Hedonists are selfish because they worry about personal gain and convenience. But every person has selfishness. There is no harm in the fact that a person lives for his own pleasure and strives for a good life. The main thing is not to cross the line between innocently receiving bliss and a callous attitude towards other people.
Functions of culture
Culture has a huge number of functions, here are some of them:
- based on values: culture forms certain values, ideals, cultural norms in society;
- informative - accumulation, storage and transmission of information is a form of historical progress;
- The hedonistic function of culture is to give a person pleasure, for example, literature, painting, music.
- normative: every culture has rules of behavior that help maintain order and regulate people’s behavior; many of these norms are closely related to the traditions, lifestyles and lifestyles of people;
- protective - the expansion of the spheres of human activity leads to the emergence of new types of danger, and this, in turn, requires the culture to create measures to protect people (medicine, environmental protection);
- cognitive function: each culture creates its own unique image of the world, explores the human soul, the world, and society;
- humanistic: the formation of human morality;
- communicativeness: man is a social being, he needs communication, culture shapes his rules and methods;
- transformation - transformation of the surrounding reality;
Each element of culture can perform different functions, for example, art performs a moral, spiritual, artistic, aesthetic and educational function. Therefore, the exact definition of the hedonic function of culture is very vague, it is any pleasure that it gives to a person. Pleasure can be either temporary or long-lasting, strong or weak. The main thing here is the power of influence of culture on society as a whole and on the individual in particular.
The influence of hedonism on the perception of the surrounding world
A person’s desire to satisfy creative, cognitive needs, satisfying his curiosity and interest is an important cognitive feature of hedonism. However, this satisfaction does not always have to be pragmatic; Equally important is simple satisfaction from the process of artistic and scientific creativity.
Hedonism influences our perception of the world around us, and any true artistic creation is an act of restoration of life. Therefore, the pleasure of coming into contact with such a work is a kind of awareness of the participation of the viewer, reader, listener in the very act of creation, an opportunity to join in the imagination with the great mystery of creativity. The hedonic function plays a very important role here, since in this case it acts as a process of participation, included in a problem situation, without which artistic creativity is impossible. This conclusion can rightfully be applied to scientific activity, since it is also creative in nature, and it is important for a scientist to penetrate into the essence of the problem, realize it, find an answer to it and, finally, enjoy the discovery.
Such components of hedonism, and those completely associated with it, as surprise and curiosity, inquisitiveness and interest, are essentially inseparable psychological experiences and occupy an important place in human life. Curiosity generated by the unknown, unexplored, leads a person to the desire to expand and deepen his knowledge. In this quest for self-satisfaction, knowledge is enriched, supplemented and expanded through scientific inquiry. Hedonism in this capacity acts as a motivating factor in human activity aimed at satisfying cognitive interests.
In our opinion, the manifestation of hedonism in cognitive activity, especially in such forms as painting and art, does not contradict the scientific interpretation of the role of hedonism in public life, does not detract from its social status, but, on the contrary, significantly complements and enriches our ideas about the world. However, excessive enthusiasm for hedonism in science and art, its hyperbolization and absolutization, can distort the real meaning of aesthetic forms in artistic creativity.
Based on the studied literature on the problems of the psychology of creativity, we have established that the creativity of a scientist and artist largely depends on his emotional perception of reality, his ability to experience and enter into a problem situation. Indeed, with the help of sensuality, embodied in the figurative and emotional sphere, the creator has the opportunity not only to comprehensively understand and embody the object of research, but also to experience pleasure from this process.
Scientific creativity cannot do without a figurative approach. The main tasks of theoretical knowledge are solved in close connection with figurative and emotional thinking. The main advantage of figurative thinking is that it can be used to express the phenomena being studied in a concrete and visual form. Here we see the need to use the cognitive tools given by art. It is organically connected with the sensual, figurative reproduction of reality; it affects the consumer through the image.
Hedonic function of the family
Theoretically, every family should perform a hedonic function. This is satisfaction with the physical and psychological well-being of each family member. Being at home, together with family and loved ones, a person achieves a joyful and calm state of mind. We all know the pleasure of delicious home-cooked food, a pleasant holiday with family, shared dinners or holiday celebrations. Adults love to communicate with children. Walk together, play sports, go to the cinema... The list of entertainment can be continued endlessly. There is an expression: “Lazy and sweet in the family.” Many families spend hours watching TV in the evenings, discussing what they saw, arguing and laughing. These are forms of pleasure.
In such families, mentally healthy individuals grow up, they can be relaxed, can participate in games, know how to have fun and show a sense of humor, they are not characterized by internal tightness and isolation, sadness and anger.
The hedonic function of the family is important for the formation of a healthy and fulfilling personality, which is cared for by human society.
Signs of a hedonist
A hedonistic lifestyle is an inheritance of the beliefs of hedonism. The main value is to receive all kinds of daily pleasures. Hedonists are people who use various methods to reduce their own experiences. Their actions are aimed at truly enjoying life, they do not pay attention to the consequences. A fulfilling lifestyle for such people is a unity of pleasant sensations.
A hedonist is a person who pays attention to activities that bring joy. When it exhausts itself, he finds a new hobby. A person is not afraid to start a relationship for the sake of love and intimacy. Signs inherent in hedonists:
- weak exposure;
- the desire to achieve well-being without effort;
- lack of culture, pride;
- egocentrism;
- idleness;
- poor self-control.
The ways of achieving pleasure will contradict society.
It has similar words in meaning: sybarite - a person who lives for the sake of self-indulgence, and epicurean - a person who achieves bliss through liberation from torment. The main source of pleasure is idyllicity.
The hedonistic model of a person’s value orientations is based on human behavior. Hedonists love to be the center of attention, they attach importance to appearance - they follow the latest fashion trends. Individuals are not afraid of extravagance - they wear bright makeup, dress provocatively, and act frivolously.
More than 9,000 people have gotten rid of their psychological problems using this technique.
If a person does not experience pleasure in life, they speak of anhedonia. This is an abnormal mental state that is difficult to treat. The methods are aimed at increasing the level of endorphin in the body. To heal, a person must seek joy in everything.
Interesting fact: given that a hedonist values the present, for the sake of two minutes of bliss he will commit an act that will entail disgusting manifestations.
