Will, Pleasure, Teleology

The traditional concept of Pleasure, to which Mill subscribes, is teleological, i. e. it understands Pleasure to occur subsequent to some process. Spinoza, in contrast, suggests a non-teleological alternative, which Nietzsche develops--that Pleasure is the feeling of an increase in strength. On that basis, Pleasure is distinct from the feeling of a replenishment of strength, or from relief from discomfort, each of which can be more accurately characterized as 'Satisfaction'. Now, while the replenishment of strength and the relief from discomfort, as completions of what precedes them, are plainly teleological, an upsurge in strength occurs, to the contrary, at the outset of a process, i. e. it is the moment of self-activation. In other words, Pleasure is the feeling of Will. Furthermore, the thought of Pleasure is a powerful motivator not as an anticipation of some eventuality, as it is usually conceived to be, but as itself a sufficient enough replication of the feeling of an upsurge of strength to initiate Motility.