Beyond Pleasure: Rethinking Wellbeing in a Hedonistic Age

In an age increasingly defined by material excess and the commodification of happiness, Beyond Pleasure offers a critique of dominant paradigms of wellbeing rooted in reductive, hedonistic, and materialist ontologies. Drawing from Islamic intellectual traditions and the multiplex anthropology found in thinkers such as Ibn Khaldun, Salahuddin and Vergil interrogate the foundational assumptions of contemporary social sciences—particularly economics and ethics—that reduce human flourishing to mere pleasure maximization or utilitarian calculus. Grounded in a multiplex understanding of human existence as composed of body, mind, and soul, the authors argue for a reconceptualization of wellbeing that acknowledges and integrates physical, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions. By exposing the epistemological and ontological limitations of positivist frameworks, Beyond Pleasure opens new theoretical horizons for rethinking human fulfillment in ways that transcend Eurocentric individualism and secular materialism. Through a critical synthesis of philosophical analysis, socio-cultural critique, and engagement with both classical and contemporary thought, this book advances a holistic model of wellbeing rooted in justice, altruism, and community.