Hedonism from the Cenobites (Midterm Blog post)

First, let’s begin with the definition of Hedonism and understand where this philosophy originated from. We’ll return to the time of Socrates then and look at a student of his, Aristippus. Originally born in Cyrene, he moved to Athens as a young boy and received his first taste of philosophy through the following of Socrates. Like many Greek philosophers of that time, his main goal was to answer the question of “What is the end?” or more as we understand it, “What is the purpose of life?” For Aristippus, it was pleasure.

Unfortunately the majority of information about the philosopher himself was written 500 years after his death and focusing on the general consensus of those of opposing thought who saw him as perverse in his beliefs and practices of them, but he did found the Cyrenaic school with his followers, where his teachings of Hedonism lived on through his family and followers. Many accounts of others’ stories of Aristippus portray him as a man who did not refrain from instant gratification and pleasures, but reveled in them. Whether these pleasures were of the nature of sexual, food, drink, or entertainment, it did not matter. He would accept payment from those who stopped to listen to him speak and this was looked down upon many fellow student of Socrates. For Aristippus though, he saw himself as being free from the chains of society and prejudices of giving into one’s most basic desires. This is quite different from the beliefs of Epicurus, who came after Aristippus and also believed in pleasure, but did not seek to overindulge in the way that his predecessor had. 

And now for the introduction of the Cenobites.

You may recognize these characters if you are familiar with the movie “Hellraiser”. What is unfortunately becoming more and more common these days is the fact that less people are aware of the books that inspire the movies, in this case, "The Hellbound Heart" by horror fiction writer Clive Barker. Personally, Barker is one of my favorite authors because he has a writing style that is very unique and detailed. He describes his characters in a way that allows you to understand their moral and immoral motivations throughout the stories and challenges you to ponder how your own actions might be in the same situations. He is extremely descriptive in his setting of the plots and has a pragmatic touch to the main characters in many of his books. The Hellbound Heart (which I will refer to as HH from this point on) is a story that focuses on the pursuit of pleasure and how many different ways that idea can be interpreted. 

Although the title, movies, and comics that came after the publication of HH imply that these Cenobite creatures are demons from hell, Barker never actually points out that this is fact. The comics and movies after the initial one were all made by people other than Barker as well, after he sold the rights to the story. Barker’s Cenobites come from an alternate reality or dimension through what is known as the “Schism”. This pathway can only be opened by a Lemarchand’s Box. Philip Lemarchand was a French toymaker in the 18^th century who was commissioned by a wealthy aristocrat obsessed with the belief of a realm of pleasure and he wanted Lemarchand to build him a key to unlock such a doorway to such a place. The full story of the puzzles created by Lermarchand and what happened to them differ whether reading the comic series or watching the movies, but for the purposes of this post, I just want to focus on the little background of it given in HH. The Lament Configuration is the specific puzzle box found in the story that must be solved in order to gain access to the alternate realm, which Barker implies is hidden in the shadows just behind that of our own realm.

Once the doorway is opened, the Cenobites come for the one who solved the puzzle. The Cenobites appear human, albeit deformed and mutilated, because they were once human. They had all sought out more pleasurable experiences than their present realities had to offer and solved the puzzle to open the doorway. In HH, the Cenobites claim they are members of the Order of the Gash. Barker also refers to them as “hierophants” or people who bring followers into that which they deem holy. The main character does as all those before him have and seeks out the key to the realm because he feels that there is nothing left in the world that could satisfy him and therefore the Cenobites must have the answers to pleasure he seeks. That is the main point of the beginning of the story, that this confrontation with the Cenobites was sought out and was actually more tedious and time-consuming that simply calling upon them. 

For the Cenobites, once they are called, they must claim the one who summoned them. Their philosophy of hedonism is taken to the extreme, where the solver of the puzzle is taken back to their realm and put through situations of sensory overload that takes every possible sense to its capacity. Their belief is that pain and pleasure are one in the same and through this act of what we would deem torture, they have a better understanding of what it is to feel. They have no ties to what is moral or immoral and place the practice of pushing the limits of pleasure as the focus of their existence. They do not view what they are doing as wrong or any kind of punishment, because those that access their realm have sought it out and have asked for such treatment, whether knowingly or not, they do not care. The purpose of their mutilations on themselves and newcomers stems from their belief that the flesh hinders the order of the mind by trying to distinguish pleasure from pain in the sense of sensations. While in the realm, the person’s body can be pushed beyond the laws of physics and human capacity we are aware of in our own reality. For example, the mutilations depicted in the HH would kill anyone here, but in their realm the person’s consciousness is sustained no matter the condition of the body. If a person realizes through these mutilations that the line between pleasure and pain is no longer apparent to them, the Engineer, who is referred to as the leader of the Order of the Gash, will deem them worthy to become a Cenobite and their mutilations will reflect that of their own interpretation of pleasure. 

 

 

 

 

I believe it is safe to say that for many, their initial reaction to the idea of finding pleasure in mutilation would be one of shock and disbelief. Most people would be quick to say that they can plainly distinguish the line between pain and pleasure and the two are as different as black and white. But if we stop and think about it, are they really that separated? Both feelings are interpreted in the same part of the brain and it is through personal experiences that we learn to distinguish between the two. What is painful for one person may not be for another. For example, for many people piercings and tattooing are painful practices that cause anxiety at the thought of going through it. If it’s painful, we should avoid it, right? But the amount of ink seen on people today is testimony to the fact that the pain, or expectation of, will not deter customers.

Another example could be that of sadomasochism (S&M) which has been brought to light more in recent times through the popularity of the book, “50 Shades of Grey”. There are many forms of pain linked to pleasure in this lifestyle, and I’m sure we could gain from valuable insight if I was to know of anyone actively participating in this, but they do seem to keep it well hidden. After reading some of the prejudices against it, I can understand why.  

So, my questions for you are these: are you sure of your ideas of pleasure and pain? Are you certain of your limits and boundaries of each? For the characters in the book, pleasure was synonymous with sexual gratification, and for the Cenobites, pleasure was defined by sensations felt by the skin. Is that all that pleasure is? Just sensations? Or is there more to it? A hedonistic view on life would encourage you to pursue pleasures wherever they could be found… but where would you begin to look?