Thereis，however，anotherwayinwhichthehabitofmindnecessarilyresultingfromthecontinualpracticeofhedonisticcomparisonissometimesthoughttobeunfavourabletotheattainmentofthehedonisticend:fromasupposedincompatibilitybetweenthehabitofreflectivelyobservingandexaminingpleasure，andthecapacityforexperiencingpleasureinnormalfulnessandintensity。Anditcertainlyseemsimportanttoconsiderwhateffectthecontinualattentiontoourpleasures，inordertoobservetheirdifferentdegrees，islikelytohaveonthesefeelingsthemselves。Theinquiryatfirstsightseemstoleadtoirreconcilablecontradictioninourviewofpleasure。Forifpleasureonlyexistsasitisfelt，themoreconsciousweareofit，themorepleasurewehave:anditwouldseemthatthemoreourattentionisdirectedtowardsit，themorefullyweshallbeconsciousofit。OntheotherhandHamilton’sstatementthat``knowledgeandfeeling’’cognitionandpleasureorpainarealways``inacertaininverseproportiontoeachother’’，correspondsprimafacietoourcommonexperience:forthepurelycognitiveelementofconsciousnessseemstobeneitherpleasurablenorpainful，sothatthemoreourconsciousnessisoccupiedwithcognition，thelessroomthereseemstobeforfeeling。
Thisview，however，restsontheassumptionthatthetotalintensityofourconsciousnessisaconstantquantity；sothatwhenoneelementofitpositivelyincreases，therestmustpositively——aswellasrelatively——diminish。Anditdoesnotappeartomethatexperiencegivesusanyvalidgroundformakingthisgeneralassumption:itratherseemsthatatcertaintimesinourlifeintellectandfeelingaresimultaneouslyfeeble；sothatthesamementalexcitementmayintensifybothsimultaneously。
Stillitseemstobeafactthatanyverypowerfulfeeling，reaching，tothefullintensityofwhichourconsciousnessisnormallycapable，iscommonlydiminishedbyacontemporaneousstrokeofcognitiveeffort:henceitisageneraldifficultyinthewayofexactobservationofouremotionsthattheobjectcognisedseemstoshrinkanddwindleinproportionasthecognitiveregardgrowskeenandeager。Howthenarewetoreconcilethiswiththepropositionfirstlaiddown，thatpleasureonlyexistsasweareconsciousofit？Theanswerseemstobethatthemereconsciousnessofapresentfeeling——apartfromanydistinctrepresentativeelements——cannotdiminishthefeelingofwhichitisanindispensableandinseparablecondition:butinintrospectivecognitionwegobeyondthepresentfeeling，comparingandclassifyingitwithrememberedorimaginedfeelings；andtheeffortofrepresentingandcomparingtheseotherfeelingstendstodecreasethemerepresentativeconsciousnessoftheactualpleasure。
Iconclude，then，thatthereisarealdangerofdiminishingpleasurebytheattempttoobserveandestimateit。Butthedangerseemsonlytoariseinthecaseofveryintensepleasures，andonlyiftheattemptismadeatthemomentofactualenjoyment；andsincethemostdelightfulperiodsoflifehavefrequentlyrecurringintervalsofnearlyneutralfeeling，inwhichthepleasuresimmediatelypastmaybecomparedandestimatedwithoutanysuchdetriment，Idonotregardtheobjectionfoundedonthisdangerasparticularlyimportant。
Moreserious，inmyopinion，aretheobjectionsurgedagainstthepossibilityofperforming，withdefiniteandtrustworthyresults，thecomprehensiveandmethodicalcomparisonofpleasuresandpainswhichtheadoptionoftheHedonisticstandardinvolves。Icannotindeeddoubtthatmenhabituallycomparepleasuresandpainsinrespectoftheirintensity:thate。g。whenwepassfromonestateofconsciousnesstoanother，orwheninanywayweareledtorecallastatelongpast，weoftenunhesitatinglydeclarethepresentstatetobemoreorlesspleasantthanthepast:orthatwedeclaresomepleasantexperiencestohavebeen`worth’，andothers`notworth’，thetroubleittooktoobtainthem，orthepainthatfollowedthem。But，grantingthis，itmaystillbemaintained1thatthiscomparisonasordinarilymadeisbothoccasionalandveryrough，andthatitcanneverbeextendedassystematicHedonismrequires，norapplied，withanyaccuracy，toallpossiblestateshoweverdifferinginquality；and2thatascommonlypractiseditisliabletoillusion，ofwhichwecannevermeasurethepreciseamount，whilewearecontinuallyforcedtorecogniseitsexistence。ThisillusionwasevenurgedbyPlatoasagroundfordistrusting，theapparentaffirmationofconsciousnessinrespectofpresentpleasure。Platothoughtthattheapparentintensityofthecoarserbodilypleasureswasillusory；becausethesestatesofconsciousness，beingprecededbypain，werereallyonlystatesofrelieffrompain，andsoproperlyneutral，neitherpleasantnorpainful——examplesofwhatIhavecalledthehedonisticzero——onlyappearingpleasantfromcontrastwiththeprecedingpain。