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AnarchButterfly wrote (edited )

Does memory of pleasure even necessarily lead to future pleasure? I've experienced a great deal of suffering by clinging to past memories, desperately wishing I could regain that state of pleasure. Similarly, I also have memories of pleasure I have since come to regret, and remembering them is displeasurable.

Or, to think about it another way, is the value in remembering past pleasures simply the present pleasure we get from it? If so, I'm not sure that it implies we should maximize the pleasure of those with the longest memories. One who remembers things perfectly may only need a single pleasurable memory that they could bring to mind, while someone with no long term memory could make better use of new pleasures.

It also brings into question if there's value in our pleasure at all. If memory of pleasure is important, then it's completely wasted on anything impermanent. A child might use that pleasurable memory for many years more than the skydiver, but all the same the pleasure will be forgotten upon death. Even if the child with maximized pleasure led a life that further maximized pleasure for others, at some point there will be no one left in this universe capable of remembering, and the pleasure will amount to nothing. If memory of pleasure is important, then it seems that this universe is inherently pleasureless. If present pleasure is more valuable, though, then memories are simply one tool for maximizing current pleasure, though I think it would be difficult to predict the value of memories and the consequent pleasure or displeasure they may lead to.

Sorry for my rambling, I'm largely ignorant of utilitarian philosophy so I'm not sure I can really answer your initial question.

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