Ethical Hedonism in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby

Abstract

This aims of this study reflect about etchical hedonism in Jay Gatsby as main character in the novel which take place in New York 1920’s after First War.The researcher uses William Lillie’s ethical hedonism theory. Ethical hedonism is the way of thinking to achieve happiness in the middle of troublesome modern world. The purpose of ethical hedonism teory is to make everyone as happy as possible. The data are used in this novel are quotation between the characters. The ethical hedonism theory consists of egoistic hedonism and universalistic hedonism. The source of the data is the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This research is library research, with the data in the form of words, dialogues, and expression showed in the novel. The writer uses qualitative descriptive method, the writer collects data from so many sources included The Great Gatsby novel, journals, and books. The results of this study show that there are some impact that influenced by ethical hedonism, they are: (1) egoistic hedonism (2) universalistic hedonism (3) lifestyle (4) materialism, its reflected by the character quotation.


 


 


Keywords: egoistic hedonism, universalistic hedonism, lifestyle, matearialism.

References
[1] Boluki, Afzal and Rodbari, Rezvaneh Najafi Savad. 2016. Ethical Hedonism: Deliberation and Analysis. Medwell Journals, 11(9).


[2] Fitzgerald, FS. 1925. The Great Gatsby. United States: Charles Scribner’s Sons.


[3] Levin, Harry. 1973. “Literature as an Institution”. In Elizabeth and Tom Burns. Sociology of Literature and Drama. Middlesex: Pinguin Boots.


[4] Lillie, William. 1957. An Introduction to Ethics. London. Metheun & Co. Ltd.


[5] Waggle, Larry.J. 2007. Epicurus: Psycological or Ethical Hedonist. Revista de Filosofia (Venezuela), 57(3). 73-88.


[6] Woolf, Raphael. 2004. What kind of Hedonist was Epicurus?. Phronesis, 49(4): 303- 322.