Introduction
Part 1: Pleasure and well-being
1. Theorizing about pleasure: Some historical background
2. Hedonism
3. Happiness, measurement and time
Part 2: The philosophy of pleasure
4. What is pleasure?
5. The constitution of pleasure: Internalism versus externalism
Part 3: The science of pleasure
6. What is pleasure? A neuroscientific perspective
7. Animals’ pleasures
Conclusion.
Index
Biography
Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek is a professor at the Institute of Philosophy, University of Lodz, Poland. With Peter Singer she is author of The Point of View of the Universe: Sidgwick and Contemporary Ethics (2014) and Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction (2017), and is editor of the Norton Library edition of John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism (2021).
"Succeeds brilliantly as a clear and readable introduction, yet manages also to be a pioneering work that draws on neuroscience as well as philosophy to make real progress in our understanding of pleasure." - Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics and The Life You Can Save
"A joy to read. Well-written and informed by relevant literature. Original and interesting. This book skilfully connects the philosophical and neuroscientific literatures on pleasure." - Ben Bramble, Australian National University
