Hedonism, the search for more pleasure, has a bad rep. Nowadays, we are prompted to renounce hedonism and leave the hamster wheel. But hedonism can be something other than indulgence. Instead, it can point to the sweet taste of existence, incorporating the most complex sensations. It situates us in relation to what we take pleasure in. It links to the respect that we have for ourselves, other humans and nonhumans, the environment.
A humanity that no longer takes pleasure in the other also no longer sees the harm it causes the other. It has no sense for the uglification of the world; it is ambivalent to the destruction of ecosystems; it exploits what is to exploit. The way out of the hamster wheel is not to deny pleasure but to fully embrace it.