Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

Get access

Pleasure
(920 words)

1. Definition

Zedler’s Universal-Lexicon defined pleasure in 1746 as “the affect that arises from beholding or enjoying perfections,” whether in music, in architecture, or scientific knowledge. The act of enjoyment constitutes pleasure, whereby the “pleasures of the mind [Gemüth] are the purest and most beneficial.” In the spirit of Enlightenment philosophy, pleasure comes close to the goal of felicity [1. 748–750]. Krünitz’ Oeconomische Encyclopädie (1851) associates pleasure somewhat more …

Cite this page
Behringer, Wolfgang, “Pleasure”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 03 December 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_029573>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200721



▲   Back to top   ▲