Sensualism

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

sensualism
    n 1: desire for sensual pleasures [syn: {sensuality},
         {sensualness}, {sensualism}]
    2: (philosophy) the ethical doctrine that feeling is the only
       criterion for what is good [syn: {sensualism},
       {sensationalism}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Sensualism \Sen"su*al*ism\, n. [Cf. F. sensualisme.]
   1. The condition or character of one who is sensual;
      subjection to sensual feelings and appetite; sensuality.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Philos.) The doctrine that all our ideas, or the
      operations of the understanding, not only originate in
      sensation, but are transformed sensations, copies or
      relics of sensations; sensationalism; sensism.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Ethics) The regarding of the gratification of the senses
      as the highest good. --Krauth-Fleming.
      [1913 Webster]