Abstract: For Hume, desire and pleasure (and aversion and pain) are closely linked. It might seem then that seeking out pain (non-instrumentally) is not possible for the Humean agent, and thus several prominent interpretations of his theory of motivation rule out masochistic desires. But by connecting these discussions of motivation with the debate over the status of perceptions in Hume's philosophy—are they mental objects or mental episodes of some kind?—I show that Humean masochism is possible. The key is recognizing that perceptions are best understood as perceivings, some of which "delineate out objects" and others of which are non-representational feelings—colourings of objects we are aware of through different perceptions. Masochism involves feeling non-representational pain but making it into the object of introspection, at which point it is possible to be pleased at and desire this mental state.
Donald C. Ainslie (2026) studied this question.