Cover
Title Page
ONE The Pursuit of Pleasure
The heights of pleasure
Hedonism then and now
TWO What Is Pleasure For?
THREE Sex
Sexy beasts
Pleasure, distilled
FOUR Drugs
How does it feel?
Recent history: the last few thousand years
The seven sisters of sleep
The playful mind?
Harm
FIVE And Chocolate
Why do we like it?
Where does it come from?
Is it addictive?
Is it good for you?
The real thing
SIX Pleasure and Desire
Liking and wanting
The machinery of pleasure and desire
Bereft of pleasure
SEVEN The Sensation-Seekers
Extroverts and sensation-seekers
The lord
The squire
The beast
The star
The jester
The king
The pearl
EIGHT Boredom, Unhappiness and Pain
A number of moderately interesting facts about boredom
Happiness
In praise of displeasure
Pain
You won’t always like what you want
NINE Addiction
An excess of desire
Sex and shopping
The machinery of addiction
Why me?
How to escape
TEN Beastliness
Free fun for one?
Or the stairway to Hell?
A hazardous habit
Pornography
ELEVEN Four Drugs
Alcohol
Tobacco
Caffeine
Ecstasy
TWELVE Gambling and Guzzling
Gambling
Guzzling
THIRTEEN Disapproval and Prohibition
Reducing harm
FOURTEEN The Wily Hedonist
Little but often
Modest Pleasures
Keep Reading
End Notes
Main Sources
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
Other Works
Copyright
About the Publisher
