Is there a distinction between mind and body? And if so, where is a person's sense of self and consciousness located? If consciousness resides in the mind, how should humans treat the body, as precious or priceless? According to dualist views, there is a separation between mind and body that transgender patients feel every day. Imagine the pain and frustration you might feel when people around you look at you and think you should act and dress one way but you feel differently. This is the frustration that transgender people feel every day. They feel as if their gender and biological sex are opposites and this leads to lifelong physical, psychological and social challenges. These challenges and inner separation are what push transgender patients to undergo the long and arduous process of sex reassignment surgery. There are many criticisms and objections to this surgery that have roots in society, medicine, and the ethics of performing surgery on a physically healthy body. The ethical theory of hedonism supports the willingness of transsexuals to undergo sex reassignment surgery in order to change their physical sex and decrease the pain and suffering experienced by transgender people, as well as increase their pleasure and improve their long-term life. The ethical dilemma of transgender surgery and the ethical theory of hedonism go hand in hand as they both seek what is pleasant for their mind and their idea of ​​self without giving importance to the body. Transgender surgery is a technique used to change a person's genital structure thus allowing their genitals to more closely resemble the genitals of the opposite sex. This procedure can be performed on people born... middle of paper....... New York: Haworth, 2007. Print."Gender Dysphoria." definitely 1. The free dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company, n.d. Web. November 30, 2013. Moore, Andrew, “Hedonism,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Forthcoming URL = .Robinson, Howard, “Dualism,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .Sheridan, Vanessa. The Complete Guide to Transgenders in the Workplace. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print.Stryker, Susan and Stephen Whittle. The Transgender Studies Reader. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.Weijers, Dan. “Hedonism.” Encyclopedia of philosophy on the Internet. Np, 8 August 2011. Web. 29 November. 2013. .