(philosophy) the ethical doctrine that feeling is the only criterion for what is good
<noun.cognition>
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.
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.
3. (Ethics) The regarding of the gratification of the senses as the highest good. --Krauth-Fleming.