--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Or if the hypothesis were offered us of a…" description: "\"Or if the hypothesis were offered us of a world in which Messrs. Fourier's and Bellamy's and Morris's Utopias should all be outdone, and millions kept ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/william-james-228_accepted_or-if-the-hypothesis-were-offered-us-of_1446818.png" --- # Or if the hypothesis were offered us of a world in which… ![“Or if the hypothesis were offered us of a world in which Messrs. Fourier's and Bellamy's and Morris's Utopias should all be outdone, and millions kept permanently happy on the one simple condition that a certain lost soul on the far-off edge of things should lead a life of lonely torment, what…” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/william-james-228_accepted_or-if-the-hypothesis-were-offered-us-of_1446818.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/william-james-228_accepted_or-if-the-hypothesis-were-offered-us-of_1446818.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/william-james-228_accepted_or-if-the-hypothesis-were-offered-us-of_1446818.png) > “Or if the hypothesis were offered us of a world in which Messrs. Fourier's and Bellamy's and Morris's Utopias should all be outdone, and millions kept permanently happy on the one simple condition that a certain lost soul on the far-off edge of things should lead a life of lonely torment, what except a specifical and independent sort of emotion can it be which would make us immediately feel, even though an impulse arose within us to clutch at the happiness so offered, how hideous a thing would be its enjoyment when deliberately accepted as the fruit of such a bargain?” [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote questions the moral cost of happiness built on another's suffering, suggesting that such joy is inherently repulsive despite its appeal. **In simple terms:** Happiness built on suffering feels wrong. Key Takeaway Avoid joy that harms others. Themes ethics philosophy human nature utilitarianism psychology Mood conflicted thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political theory - personal decision making - social activism Key Concepts moral psychology consequentialism empathy Questions to Reflect On - Can we ever truly enjoy benefits derived from another's pain? - What moral frameworks help us reject such bargains? A Different Perspective The appeal of such happiness may be strong, but it conflicts with deep moral intuition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bargains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bargains/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Enjoyment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enjoyment/) [Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fourier/) [Fruit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Lonely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lonely/) [Lost souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-souls/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Torment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torment/) [Utopia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utopia/) [Utopias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utopias/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I'll suggest that the happiness hypothesis offered by Buddha and the Stoics should be amended: Happiness comes from within, and happiness comes from without.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/i-ll-suggest-that-the-happiness-hypothesis-offered-by-buddha-and-the/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [“Fourier succeeded in proving a theorem concerning sine waves which astonished his, at first, incredulous contemporaries. He showed that any variation of a quantity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-robinson-pierce/fourier-succeeded-in-proving-a-theorem-concerning-sine-waves-which/) John Robinson Pierce > [ The vision shared by both \[French utopian\] Charles Fourier and Robert Owen was for an entire town to fit into one structure. Owen's design… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/the-vision-shared-by-both-french-utopian-charles-fourier-and-robert/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [Fourier's theorem is not only one of the most beautiful results of modern analysis, but it may be said to furnish an indispensable instrument…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/fourier-s-theorem-is-not-only-one-of-the-most-beautiful-results-of/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [A clever graduate student could teach Fourier something new, but surely no one claims that he could teach Archimedes to reason better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-halmos/a-clever-graduate-student-could-teach-fourier-something-new-but/) [Paul Halmos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-halmos/) > [For Dostoevsky, Fourier is one of the industrious ant-hill engineers, busy, protected by the delusion that his goal, the will-ordered society, is the summation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/for-dostoevsky-fourier-is-one-of-the-industrious-ant-hill-engineers/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [“… Fourier 's great mathematical poem ... { Referring to Joseph Fourier 's mathematical theory of the conduction of heat, one of the precursors to thermodynamics. }”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fourier-s-great-mathematical-poem-referring-to-joseph-fourier-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fourier's theorem has all the simplicity and yet more power than other familiar explanations in science. Stated simply, any complex pattern, whether in time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-hood/fourier-s-theorem-has-all-the-simplicity-and-yet-more-power-than/) [Bruce Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-hood/) > [ \[Referring to Fourier's mathematical theory of the conduction of heat\] ... Fourier's great mathematical poem ... ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/referring-to-fourier-s-mathematical-theory-of-the-conduction-of-heat/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [“ Derrière la série de Fourier , d'autres séries analogues sont entrées dans la domaine de l'analyse; elles y sont entrees par la même…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/derri-re-la-s-rie-de-fourier-d-autres-s-ries-analogues-sont-entr-es/) [Henri Poincaré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [The mathematical thermology created by Fourier may tempt us to hope that, as he has estimated the temperature of the space in which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auguste-comte/the-mathematical-thermology-created-by-fourier-may-tempt-us-to-hope/) [Auguste Comte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auguste-comte/) > [Fourier is a mathematical poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/fourier-is-a-mathematical-poem/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [The whole aspect of the universe changes with this new conception. The idea of force governing the world, of pre-established law, preconceived harmony, disappears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kropotkin/the-whole-aspect-of-the-universe-changes-with-this-new-conception-the/) [Peter Kropotkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kropotkin/) > [The fatal flaw of most utopian visions is that they're fundamentally static, and that's not a comfortable place for humans to live. Fourier was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-jennings/the-fatal-flaw-of-most-utopian-visions-is-that-they-re-fundamentally/) [Christine Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-jennings/) > [True greatness is when your name is like ampere, watt, and fourier-when it's spelled with a lower case letter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hamming/true-greatness-is-when-your-name-is-like-ampere-watt-and-fourier-when/) [Richard Hamming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hamming/) ## More by William James > [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. 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They may have seen them, may have said them, done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-people-probably-are-in-doubt-about-certain-matters-ascribed-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“How soon, indeed, are human things forgotten! 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