Another argument that points to “pleasure is good” is that people and many animals are drawn to things that gives them pleasure
It’s worth pointing out that this association isn’t perfect. See [1] and [2] for some discussion. Tranquilism allows that if someone is in some moment neither drawn to (craving) (more) pleasurable experiences nor experiencing pleasure (or as much as they could be), this isn’t worse than if they were experiencing (more) pleasure. If more pleasure is always better, then contentment is never good enough, but to be content is to be satisfied, to feel that it is good enough or not feel that it isn’t good enough. Of course, this is in the moment, and not necessarily a reflective judgement.
I also approach pleasure vs suffering in a kind of conditional way, like an asymmetric person-affecting view, or “preference-affecting view”:
I would say that something only matters if it matters (or will matter) to someone, and an absence of pleasure doesn’t necessarily matter to someone who isn’t experiencing pleasure, and certainly doesn’t matter to someone who does not and will not exist, and so we have no inherent reason to promote pleasure. On the other hand, there’s no suffering unless someone is experiencing it, and according to some definitions of suffering, it necessarily matters to the sufferer. (A bit more on this argument here, but applied to good and bad lives.)
It’s worth pointing out that this association isn’t perfect. See [1] and [2] for some discussion. Tranquilism allows that if someone is in some moment neither drawn to (craving) (more) pleasurable experiences nor experiencing pleasure (or as much as they could be), this isn’t worse than if they were experiencing (more) pleasure. If more pleasure is always better, then contentment is never good enough, but to be content is to be satisfied, to feel that it is good enough or not feel that it isn’t good enough. Of course, this is in the moment, and not necessarily a reflective judgement.
I also approach pleasure vs suffering in a kind of conditional way, like an asymmetric person-affecting view, or “preference-affecting view”:
I would say that something only matters if it matters (or will matter) to someone, and an absence of pleasure doesn’t necessarily matter to someone who isn’t experiencing pleasure, and certainly doesn’t matter to someone who does not and will not exist, and so we have no inherent reason to promote pleasure. On the other hand, there’s no suffering unless someone is experiencing it, and according to some definitions of suffering, it necessarily matters to the sufferer. (A bit more on this argument here, but applied to good and bad lives.)