I've found that reading old philosophers has shown me how little human thought has progressed. Most people when they get fed up with philosophical reasoning and rely on "common sense" are really just accepting Aristotle's teachings. That's why I love the pre-Socratics and Eastern philosophers/mystics, because they tend to go the opposite direction of the Greek philosophers and end up with conclusions that seem completely alien to us.
Wrt suffering: the reason Buddhists will say that suffering turns the wheel of life is because suffering is universal, everything comes into the world suffering and most things go out of it suffering as well. The question of pleasure becomes a question of minimizing suffering, the pleasure of eating is just the absence of hunger, the pleasure of human contact is just the absence of loneliness, etc.
It's all a matter of perspective, but I don't really think our perspective has improved. It's just shifted... again.
|