Pushpin

created by Webster 1913

(thing) by whimsy2 (6.1 y) (print) ? (I like it!) Fri Sep 28 2001 at 20:14:52

Metaphorically, something of little intellectual worth. According to Jeremy Bentham, whose utilitarianism measured the value of a state of affairs as an aggregate of the pleasure people derived from it, "quantity of pleasure being equal, pushpin is as good as poetry." That is, if mindless children's games made more people happier than abstruse poetry, the world should have more games and fewer odes. Bentham's view of the primacy of pleasure contrasted sharply with earlier philosophy that valued knowledge and intellectual understanding.

(definition) by Webster 1913 (print) Wed Dec 22 1999 at 2:23:00

Push"pin` (?), n.

A child's game played with pins.

L. Estrange.

printable version
chaos

thumbtack	Peppercorn	push pin	mindless
Ode	Philosophy	poetry	Jeremy Bentham
utilitarianism	pink pearl eraser	Zig-Zag

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