From Pleasure to Public Good:on Leibniz's View of Happiness
Leibniz believed that"happiness is a continuous state of pleasure",which became the text basis for later scholars to interpret Leibniz's ethical theory as a hedonism and even egoism of happiness.A comprehensive study of Leibniz's philosophy shows that this interpretation is biased and ignores the profound connotation of the emotional concept of"pleasure"in Leibniz's philosophy.Unlike the empiricist view that happiness is equal to the product of sensual experience,Leibniz's interpretation is more than a view of aesthetic experience,emphasizing that pleasure is essentially the perception of perfection(reality or essence)of things,and suggesting that pleasure can be a ra-tional and shared public emotion.Therefore,Leibniz rejected the idea that happiness is equal to an exclusive and private emotion,and avoided falling into the trap of egoism or hedonism,and then demonstrated the internal rela-tionship between human happiness and life of community,and showed that the real and highest happiness must re-fer to the public good.
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