Some philosophers, such as Jeremy Bentham, Baruch Spinoza, and Descartes, have hypothesized that the sensations of pain and pleasure are part of a continuum.
There is strong evidence of biological connections between the neurochemical pathways used for the perception of both pain and pleasure, as well as other psychological rewards.
Read more about Pain And Pleasure: Perception of Pleasure, Psychology of Pain and Pleasure (Reward-punishment System), Opioid and Dopamine Systems in Pain and Pleasure, Evolutionary Hypotheses For The Relationship Between Pain and Pleasure
Famous quotes containing the words pain and, pain and/or pleasure:
“Pain itself can be pleasurable accidentally in so far as it is accompanied by wonder, as in stage-plays; or in so far as it recalls a beloved object to one’s memory, and makes one feel one’s love for the thing, whose absence gives us pain. Consequently, since love is pleasant, both pain and whatever else results from love, in so far as they remind us of our love, are pleasant.”
—Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274)
“For it would be better to die once and for all than to suffer pain for all one’s life.”
—Aeschylus (525–456 B.C.)
“For pain is perhaps but a violent pleasure? Who could determine the point where pleasure becomes pain, where pain is still a pleasure? Is not the utmost brightness of the ideal world soothing to us, while the lightest shadows of the physical world annoy?”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)