Pleasure and Quality of Life [Hardcover]

David M. Warburton (Editor), Neil Sherwood (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0471965111 | ISBN-13: 978-0471965114 | Edition: 1

Pleasure is a personal experience, but it is also a common experience and is part of the emotional vocabulary of all cultures. All of us have opinions and clear moral views about the place of pleasure in a well-lived life, what form it should take, and with what enthusiasm it should be sought. In this book the contributors emphasize the positive contribution of pleasure to the quality of everyday life. Their research fields span the range from basic neurochemistry of behaviour, psychoimmunology, oncology, psycho-endocrinology, psychopharmacology, psychology, sociology, community medicine, politics, law and philosophy. Considerable unanimity of opinion is derived from these disparate approaches. There is unanimous support for the view that pleasure is important for physical and mental health. It strengthens the immune system and is an antidote to stressors. However, it is also emphasized that pleasure is to be enjoyed in its own right as part of a well-balanced life. There is unanimous rejection of the homogenizing of pleasures and the view that there is only one way to live your life. Of course, recognizing and understanding people?s pleasures does not mean approving or condoning them. But it does indicate that there is respect for personal choice and the autonomy of the individual to enjoy their pleasures provided that they are not harming others.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Pleasure is a personal experience, but it is also a common experience and is part of the emotional vocabulary of all cultures. All of us have opinions and clear moral views about the place of pleasure in a well-lived life, what form it should take, and with what enthusiasm it should be sought. In this book the contributors emphasize the positive contribution of pleasure to the quality of everyday life. Their research fields span the range from basic neurochemistry of behaviour, psychoimmunology, oncology, psychoendocrinology, psychopharmacology, psychology, sociology, community medicine, politics, law and philosophy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 326 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 1 edition (January 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471965111
• ISBN-13: 978-0471965114
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,621,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Beware Professor Warburton, May 3, 2005

By 

A. Foxland "Afoxland" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pleasure and Quality of Life (Hardcover)

I haven't read this book, but I have certainly read all ABOUT it--in the tobacco industry's internal documents (which are now posted on the Internet). The author, David Warburton, worked for the global tobacco industry in a clandestine project initially conceived to counteract the 1988 U.S. Surgeon General's report that said nicotine has similar addictive properties to heroin and cocaine. This report sent up red flags inside the industry world-wide. To counteract the damaging effect of this information, the global tobacco industry formed a front group of seemingly "indepdendent," eminent social scientists (philosophers, economists, sociologists, etc.) called "Associates for Research in Substance Enjoyment," or ARISE. The head of the group (with full knowledge of the industry's involvement) was Warburton. In 1994, Rothmans tobacco of the UK changed the name of the group to "Associates for Research in the Science of Enjoyment," with Warburton's approval, but that made no difference in its activities. ARISE members, funded almost entirely by the major tobacco companies of Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, British American Tobacco, Rothmans and Gallaher (UK tobacco companies) and their food subsidiaries, were sent on worldwide tours and stated repeatedly to the popular press in many countries that pleasure increased the body's immunity to disease, and that coffee, tea, chocolate, shopping, hot baths and smoking cigaretttes (no surprise) increased pleasure and hence actually benefitted health (!).

The extent of the tobacco industry's involvement in operating ARISE was minimized through the use of a public relations company to do the scheduling and organizing of press conferences, etc. for ARISE members.

This book by Warburton, Pleasure and Quality of Life, arose from the proceedings of the 1993 ARISE conference in Brussels, Belgium. It followed the method of operation the industry used in previous conferences in 1988 and 1991, which also resulted in books. No doubt its publication was funded entirely by the tobacco industry, who then clandestinely promoted it through a publisher.

The author, Professor Warburton, has spent many years working with the tobacco industry to damage to the efforts of public health authorities to cut the amount of death and disease from smoking. He has worked hard to keep the public confused about the health hazards of tobacco use.

If you would like to read the documents about Professor Warburton and this book (and others) for yourself, go to the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library at www.library.legacy.ucsf.edu and use the search criteria "Warburton" and "ARISE," or even search on the title of this book.