[ExI] Foregoing Pleasure

[Lee Corbin]

Stathis writes

> If anything, drug addiction occurs in our culture due to having too
> little control over one's mind. Some drug addicts wish they had never
> been tempted to use the drug in the first place,

Hmm, but some are all right with it---or is it that they just
don't fantasize?    Some have no regrets at all?

> and most drug addicts
> wish they could easily switch off their addiction, or that there was
> something else they could do that was as least as enjoyable as the
> drug but more productive. If they had complete control over their
> minds, it would be a simple matter to arrange for these things to be
> the case.

Yes.

> If you thought that the denial of all pleasures was
> important, you could simply make yourself content to deny yourself all
> pleasures.

Yes.

> This would involve making pleasure-denial more pleasant
> than the anticipation of pleasure indulgence.

That sounds distinctly odd.  When I deny myself the possibility of pigging
out on a large bag of junk food, I would not call my resultant state more
"pleasant".  I just sigh and reconcile myself to having foregone a certain
pleasure.  Also, experiencing fear of consequences, which keeps, say,
some men from immediately raping any nearby female, also does not
seem to qualify for "pleasant" in any way.

Lee