Robert Nozicks thought experiment which he called The Experience Machine is arguably the most well-known argument against ethical hedonism. In The Experience Machine, Nozick argues that ethical hedonism at its base is a flawed moral theory because humans intrinsically have more needs and wants beyond that of pleasure. He uses the ‘experience machine’ to show that this point of view is not valid; if it were then we would have an overwhelming drive to ‘plug in’ which we do not. I agree with Nozicks objection to hedonism and believe that the three rejections he provides are an accurate assumption of human behavior.
Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure; “the belief that pleasure or happiness is the most important goal in life” (Marriam-Webster).
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“Thought experiments are devices of the imagination used to investigate the nature of things…” (Brown). Nozick’s ‘experience machine’ “…feeds sensations and impressions into people’s brains. When people are plugged into the machine, they can experience anything they want and are blissfully unaware that the experiences are not genuine” (Jortner). Nozick uses the ‘experience machine’ as an argument against hedonism and believes that most people, given the chance to ‘plug in’ would choose not to. If pleasure was the only intrinsic value, we would all plug into the experience machine without hesitation, however, not all of us want to. He considers this evidence that there are other elements we strive for other than pleasure and which pleasure may even be sacrificed …show more content…
There is no actual contact with any deeper reality, though the experience of it can be simulated’ (Nozick 142). A large portion of what makes us who are is what we do and our reactions to situations and unforeseen events. “Those in the experience machine don’t do anything. They make no choices and perform no actions…They are neither virtuous nor vicious because they have never done anything for which they can be held responsible” (Irwin). Nozick also discusses the idea of a ‘transformative machine’ that can transform us into any type of person we want to be. The machine(s) effectively take away our ability to have a personality or to ‘find ourselves’ so to speak by doing everything for us. There is no effort involved in being ‘plugged in’ and thus any benefit from it would be
The word hedonism originates from the Greek name for pleasure. In chapter 1 of The Fundamentals of Ethics, Shafer-Landau defines hedonism as the view that "there is only one thing that is intrinsically good for us: happiness. Everything else improves our lives only to the extent that it makes us happy" (25). Enjoyment is said to be the key to a good life. Throughout the chapter, he goes on to list the most important reasons for hedonism's popularity.
The theory of hedonism is the view that pleasure is the only thing that is intrinsically valuable, thus making it so that our lives are only truly good to the extent that we are happy. The Argument from False Happiness challenges the view of the hedonist: the hedonist believes that a life is good so long as there is happiness, regardless of where the happiness comes from, whereas critics of hedonism argue that a life filled with false beliefs is worse, despite the fact that the person may still be as equally happy as someone with true beliefs. In this essay, I will show how hedonism is drastically discredited by the following argument as it is clear to see how false happiness makes a life significantly worse for the person living it: If hedonism
As humans we are constantly in search of understanding the balance between what feels good and what is right. Humans try to take full advantage of experiencing pleasure to its fullest potential. Hedonism claims that pleasure is the highest and only source of essential significance. If the notion of hedonism is truthful, happiness is directly correlated with pleasure. Robert Nozick presented the philosophical world with his though experiment, “The Experience Machine” in order to dispute the existence and validity of hedonism. Nozick’s thought experiment poses the question of whether or not humans would plug into a machine which produces any desired experience. Nozick weakens the notion of hedonism through his thought experiment, claiming humans need more than just pleasure in their lives. Nozick discovers that humans would not hook up to this machine because they would not fully develop as a person and consider it a form of suicide.
The philosophical text “The Best Things in Life: A Guide to What Really Matters”, by Thomas Hurka illustrates the three key aspects of a good life and well-being; ethical hedonism, desire satisfaction, and objectivism. Ethical hedonism describes how something is intrinsically good for you if it’s a state of pleasure, your well-being improves when you experience pleasure. Desire satisfaction defines how something is intrinsically good for you if you intrinsically desire it, your well-being improves when you satisfy an intrinsic desire. Objectivism is about how some things are intrinsically good for you independently of any desire you may have or any pleasure you may get, your well-being improves when you acquire those things. Hurka believes that the best things in life are knowledge, achievement, pleasure,
In moral philosophy, preferentism - or desire satisfactionism - is the idea that the fulfilment of preferences is the sole basic bearer of intrinsic goodness, and the frustration of preferences is the sole basic bearer of intrinsic badness. Simply, getting what you desire most is good, not getting that is bad. The source of value is not the pleasure gained by getting what you want; rather the fulfilment of the desire as an end in itself. This view came about as an alternative to traditional hedonism, especially after Nozick's Experience Machine showed that most people would not choose not to be most efficiently pleasured through the machine, and therefore we should look to things other than pleasure as sources of value.
This unit explored desire satisfactionism, a term that generally speaks for itself. Though it is an umbrella term because there are different types. There is local desire satisfactionism, which is the idea that if desires are satisfied, one is happy. Then there is whole life satisfactionism. It means that to be happy is to have one desire satisfied. This is the overarching desire that your most important desires be satisfied. It is prioritized assessment of one’s life as a whole. To compare local desire satisfactionism with whole life satisfactionism would be like comparing quality and quantity from a hedonist perspective. It is similar in regard to desire satisfactionism, two different types. Several individuals discuss whole life satisfactionism
Epicurus was admittedly a Hedonist, and this philosophy has had a huge influence on his work. Especially so on his death argument. Hedonism is, “the doctrine that pleasure is the only thing that is good in itself for a person, pain the only thing that is bad in itself for a person.”
Hedonism is a way of life that is rooted in a person’s experiences or states of consciousness that can be pleasant or unpleasant. The ethical egoist would state that a person should maximize his or her pleasant states of consciousness in order to lead the best life. Act Utilitarian on the other hand would state that these enjoyable states of consciousness should be maximized by one’s actions for everyone in order to attain the most utility. On the surface, this appears to be a good way to live, however, as Nozick states through his example of the experience machine that living life as a hedonist can be detrimental. It is a hollow existence that will ultimately be unsatisfactory because of the lack of making real decisions and relationships which are important to living a fulfilling life.
Hedonism means to live only for pleasure. It means not thinking about the consequences of your actions as long as make you happy. It’s a total abandon of all responsibilities. This type of lifestyle often has negative results. I mean, look at the hippies, and how their hedonistic society turned out. They are all either in rehab centers or have kids running around with names like “Moonbeam” and “Starchild”. But enough hippie bashing - let’s look at how the Hedonistic way of life is integrated into The Great Gatsby. Let’s take the parties for example. Gatsby has a party just about every week, no matter what. He has tons of people come over, and they party all night. Gatsby has tons of booze at his parties, and no one thinks of consuming anything but alcohol.
Most people think that the highest end is a life of pleasure. Hedonists have defined happiness as " an equivalent to the totality of pleasurable or agreeable feeling.';(Fox, 3) Some pleasures are good and contribute to happiness. Not all ends are ultimate ends but the highest end would have to be something ultimate; the only conceivable ultimate end is happiness.
Instead, it suggests that things such as living an autonomous life, engaging in the real world, and truth, are more valuable. Nozick claims that once we imagine an experience machine, we consider the idea of exiting within one – being submersed into a fluid filled tank with electrodes plugged into our nervous systems – repellent (NOZICK Singer& *259). The Matrix visually displays Nozick's position brilliantly. When the film brings us face to face with the machinery of the actual Matrix, we see hairless, pale, slimy humans, submerged in goo, with cables protruding from their bodies. This imagery evokes repugnance, and it is likely that viewers will feel disgust at the very thought of an experience machine existence. Furthermore, the likelihood of us dismissing the experience machine in favour of reality is increased through the character of the main protagonist, Neo, who we see as principled, genuine, and someone who values truth, even at the risk of loosing pleasure, which is shown in the 'red/blue pill' scene. In this scene it is made clear that if Neo opts out of the experience machine existence to confront reality, there is no promise for anything other than truth. In Neo choosing to unplug from the Matrix, we see someone virtuous and strong, traits which are generally viewed as positive. Thus, Neo serves as the embodiment of the assertion that pleasure is not what we hold to be of ultimate value, and we come to associate his positive character with the objection against
Pleasure is a source of enjoyment or delight, as described by dictionary.com. Hedonism is the pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses. Your view of pleasure clearly depends on which time period you are living in, talking about, and what you believe. For example if you lived when Epicurus lived you might believe that pain and pleasure are two different things, but if you live now and listen to Queen you might believe that pain and pleasure are not completely different things.
When talking about pleasure there needs to be a distinction between the quality and the quantity. While having many different kinds of pleasures can be considered a good thing, one is more likely to favor quality over quantity. With this distinction in mind, one is more able to quantify their pleasures as higher or lesser pleasures by ascertaining the quality of them. This facilitates the ability to achieve the fundamental moral value that is happiness. In his book Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill offers a defining of utility as pleasure or the absence of pain in addition to the Utility Principle, where “Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (Mill 7). Through this principle, Mill emphasizes that it is not enough to show that happiness is an end in itself. Mill’s hedonistic view is one in support of the claim that every human action is motivated by or ought to be motivated by the pursuit of pleasure.
A moral theory should be one’s guide when deciding whether an action is either good or bad, wrong or right. There are many types of moral theories to choose from, but we will only focus on two: utilitarianism and ancient hedonism. These theories meet in their pursuit of something greater, for hedonism it’s personal pleasure while for utilitarianism it is happiness for the greater number of people. In this work, the differences and the similarities of utilitarianism and hedonism will be pointed out after explaining them separately.