Pleasure and behavior / Frederic Lyman Wells.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wells, Frederic Lyman, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Psychology.

Pleasure.

Human behavior.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 274 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York : D Appleton & Company, 1924.

Summary:

The present contribution is focused upon a field that has attracted the spot-light of psychological interest. The reconstruction of psychology as the science of behavior has brought about a renewed attention to the life of the feelings and emotions and the sources of motives for action. Man as a rational animal has by no means been dethroned, but rather has been reinstated in his estate with a fresher and a deeper understanding of the function of his rationality to give point and substance and refinement to his affective life. Happiness and success are interpreted as high-level sanctions of endeavor which has its motive source in lowly origins, where simpler pleasures rule as rewards and simpler pains are imposed as penalties. Ever subject to the same incentives for the wiser direction of his conduct, man's power to attain nobler prides and more complex shames testifies to the social evolution that has transformed his environment without turning his nature from its ordained orbit. Such loyalty to original nature is quite compatible with the highest aspirations and the wisdom to set a goal and devise the means for its attainment. Man remains the pleasure-loving creature, while enlarging the scope of his pleasures and the level of their satisfaction.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.