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Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive enjoyable or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness entertainment enjoyment ecstasy and euphoria. In psychology the pleasure principle describes pleasure as a positive feedback mechanism motivating the organism to recreate in the future the situation which it has just found pleasurable. According to this theory organisms are similarly motivated to avoid situations that have caused pain in the past.

The experience of pleasure is subjective and different individuals will experience different kinds and amounts of happiness in the same situation. Many pleasurable experiences are associated with satisfying basic biological drives such as eating exercise or sex. Other pleasurable experiences are associated with social experiences and social drives such as the experiences of accomplishment recognition and service. The appreciation of cultural artifacts and activities such as art music and literature is often pleasurable.

In recent years significant progress has been made in understanding the brain mechanisms underlying pleasure. 1 One of the key discoveries was made by Kent C. Berridge who has shown that pleasure is not a unitary experience. Rather pleasure consists of multiple brain processes including liking wanting and learning subserved by distinct yet partially overlapping brain networks. 2 In particular this research has been helped by the use of objective pleasure-elicited reactions in humans and other animals such as the behavioral liking/disliking facial expressions to tastes that are homologous between humans and many other mammals. 3

Recreational drug use can be pleasurable: some drugs illicit and otherwise directly create euphoria in the human brain when ingested. The mind's natural tendency to seek out more of this feeling (as described by the pleasure principle) can lead to dependence and addiction. Berridge and Robinson have proposed that addiction results from drugs hijacking the wanting system through a sensitization of the mesolimbic dopamine system.4 Comic mask on the faade of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm Contents 1 Philosophical views 1.1 Philosophies of pleasure 2 Neurobiology 3 Pleasure as a uniquely human experience 4 Masochism 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading Philosophical views

Epicurus and his followers defined the highest pleasure as the absence of suffering5 and pleasure itself as "freedom from pain in the body and freedom from turmoil in the soul".6 According to Cicero (or rather his character Torquatus) he also believed that pleasure was the chief good (and conversely that pain was the chief evil).7

In the 12th century Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's Kitab al Nafs Wal Ruh analyzed the different types of pleasures as sensuous and intellectual and explained their relations with one another.8 He concludes that human needs and desires are endless and "their satisfaction is by definition impossible."9

The 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer understood pleasure as a negative sensation as it negates the usual existential condition that of suffering.10 Philosophies of pleasure

Utilitarianism and Hedonism are philosophies that advocate increasing to the maximum the amount of pleasure and minimizing the amount of suffering. Neurobiology

The pleasure center is the set of brain structures predominantly the nucleus accumbens theorized to produce great pleasure when stimulated electrically. Some references state that the septum pellucidium is generally considered to be the pleasure center11 while others mention the hypothalamus when referring to the pleasure center for intracranial stimulation.12 Certain chemicals are known to stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain. These include dopamine13 and various endorphins. It has been specifically stated that physical exertion can release endorphines in what is called the runner's high and equally it has been found that chocolate and certain spices such as from the family of the chilli can release or cause to be released similar psychoactive chemicals to those released during sexual acts. Pleasure as a uniquely human experience There has been debate as to whether pleasure is experienced by other animals rather than being an exclusive property of humankind. On the one hand Jeremy Bentham (usually regarded as the founder of Utilitarianism)14 and Beth Dixon15 both argue that they do the latter however in a carefully worded manner. People who believe in human exceptionalism might argue that it is a form of anthropomorphism to ascribe any human experience to animals including pleasure. Others view animal behaviour simply as responses to stimuli; this is the way behaviourists look at the evidence Pavlov's dogs (or rather his explanation of their behaviour) being the best-known example. However it may be argued that we simply cannot know whether animals experience pleasure and most scientists indeed prefer to remain neutral while utilizing anthropomorphisms as and when they need them.16 It appears though that those who recognise emotions in animals are in the ascent: many ethologists for example Marc Bekoff are prepared to draw the conclusion that animals do experience emotions though these are not necessarily the same as human emotions.17 Masochism Masochists are those who derive pleasure from receiving pain. The existence of masochism complicates the commonly-held view that pleasure as a positive experience is fundamentally opposite pain a negative experience. Masochism is context-dependent: masochists enjoy certain kinds of pain in certain situations. See also Part of a series on Utilitarianism Predecessors Epicurus David Hume  William Godwin  Francis Hutcheson People Jeremy Bentham  John Stuart Mill Henry Sidgwick  Richard Mervyn Hare  Peter Singer Types of utilitarianism Preference  Rule  Act Two-level  Total  Average Relative  Negative  Hedonism Enlightened self-interest Key concepts Pain  Suffering  Pleasure Utility  Happiness  Eudaimonia Consequentialism  Felicific calculus Problems Mere addition paradox Paradox of hedonism Utility monster Related topics Rational choice theory  Game theory Social choice  Neoclassical economics   Politics portal v d e Look up Pleasure in Wiktionary the free dictionary. Emotion in animals Felicific calculus an attempt to calculate pleasure Flow (psychology) Gratification Hedonism Orgasm Paradox of hedonism Pleasure principle Sexual pleasure References Kringelbach M.L; K.C. Berridge (2010). Pleasures of the brain. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-533102-8.  Berridge K.C. Kringelbach M.L. (2008) Affective neuroscience of pleasure: Reward in humans and other animals. Psychopharmacology 199 457-80. http://www.lsa.umich.edu/psych/research&labs/berridge/VideoIndex.htm Videos of Pleasure-elicited Reactions. Robinson T.E. Berridge K.C. 1993 The neural basis of drug craving: an incentive-sensitization theory of addiction. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 18(3):247-91. The Forty Principal Doctrines Number III. Letter to Menoeceus Section 131-2. About the Ends of Goods and Evils Book I From Section IX Torquatus sets out his understanding of Epicurus's philosophy. Haque Amber (2004). "Psychology from Islamic Perspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists". Journal of Religion and Health 43 (4): 357377 370. doi:10.1007/s10943-004-4302-z.  Haque Amber (2004). "Psychology from Islamic Perspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists". Journal of Religion and Health 43 (4): 357377 371. doi:10.1007/s10943-004-4302-z.  Counsels and Maxims Chapter 1 General Rules Section 1. Walsh Anthony (1991). The Science of Love Understanding Love and its Effects on Mind and Body. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-648-9.  Kandel ER Schwartz JH Jessell TM. Principles of Neural Science 4th ed. McGraw-Hill New York (2000). ISBN 0-8385-7701-6 Giuliano F.; Allard J. (2001). "Dopamine and male sexual function". Eur Urol 40 (6): 601608. doi:10.1159/000049844. PMID 11805404.  Bentham Jeremy (1996). An Introduction to the Principles of Moral Legislation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820516-6. http://www.la.utexas.edu/research/poltheory/bentham/ipml/ipml.toc.html.  Ethics & the Environment Volume 6 Number 2 Autumn 2001 pp. 22-30 Indiana University Press Johns Hopkins University Press see also: Emotion in animals Horowitz A. 2007. Anthropomorphism. In M. Bekoff ed. Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships pp 60-66 Greenwood Publishing Group Westport CT. Do animals have emotions From The Sunday Times August 24 2008. Further reading Paul Bloom. How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like (2010) 280 pages. Draws on neuroscience philosophy child-development research and behavioral economics in a study of our desires attractions and tastes. M.L. Kringelbach. The pleasure center: Trust Your Animal Instincts (2009). Oxford University Press. ISBN13: 978-0-19-532285-9. An general overview of the neuroscience of pleasure. v d eEmotions (list)  Emotions Adoration  Affection  Aggravation  Agitation  Agony  Alarm  Alienation  Amazement  Amusement  Anger  Anguish  Annoyance  Anxiety  Apprehension  Arousal  Attraction  Bitterness  Caring  Cheerfulness  Compassion  Contempt  Contentment  Defeat  Dejection  Delight  Depression  Desire  Despair  Disappointment  Disgust  Dislike  Dismay  Displeasure  Distress  Dread  Eagerness  Ecstasy  Elation  Embarrassment  Empathy  Enjoyment  Enthrallment  Enthusiasm  Envy  Euphoria  Exasperation  Excitement  Exhilaration  Fear  Ferocity  Fondness  Fright  Frustration  Fury  Gaiety  Gladness  Glee  Gloom  Grief  Guilt  Happiness  Hatred  Homesickness  Hope  Hopelessness  Horror  Hostility  Humiliation  Hurt  Hysteria  Infatuation  Insecurity  Insult  Irritation  Isolation  Jealousy  Jolliness  Joy  Jubilation  Liking  Loathing  Loneliness  Longing  Love  Lust  Melancholy  Misery  Mortification  Neglect  Nervousness  Optimism  Outrage  Panic  Passion  Pity  Pleasure  Pride  Rage  Rapture  Regret  Rejection  Remorse  Resentment  Revulsion  Sadness  Satisfaction  Scorn  Sentimentality  Shame  Shock  Sorrow  Spite  Suffering  Surprise  Sympathy  Tenderness  Tenseness  Terror  Thrill  Torment  Uneasiness  Unhappiness  Vengefulness  Woe  Worry  Wrath  Zeal  Zest  Worldviews Compatibilism  Existentialism  Fatalism  Incompatibilism  Metaphysics  Nihilism  Optimism  Pessimism  Reclusion  Social justice  Weltschmerz Source: Parrott W. (2001) Emotions in Social Psychology Psychology Press Philadelphia.