A common objection is that friendship, truth, or agency matter independently of felt quality. Hedonists can question the objection or refine what counts as pleasure. The theory also needs an account of mixed experiences, duration, and comparison; ordinary enjoyment is too varied to function as an unexplained single scale.
Compare the enjoyment of a real friendship with an equally pleasant belief in a friendship that does not exist. If you think the real relationship makes life better, ask whether its benefit is entirely explained by experience. A hedonist can challenge that judgment or reinterpret the relevant pleasure, but must explain the difference. The case also separates welfare from other values: something may matter to another person or be morally significant without increasing the subject’s own well-being.