Essay on Robert Nozicks The Experience Machine - 954 Words

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, â€Å"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†¦show more content†¦Nozick suggests, â€Å"why should we be concerned only with how our time is filled, but not with what we are?† The truth is humans are not only concerned with what they do in life, but also with whom they become and are. The human personality develops by experiencing true and real events that are not resulted from a man made machine. We as humans have the ability to reason and understand life differently than everything else in existence. Because of this understanding of life, we understand that pleasure is not the only important thing to us. As human we have real life goals which need to be experienced through reality, not through some stimulation of our brain. Nozick makes it clear the pleasure is not intrinsically good because by denying this thought experiment, we are also denying that all we need is pleasure to live a good life. Nozick also discovers that humans would not hook up to this machine because it is a form of suicide. Humans will never want to entirely reduce themselves to a man made realism. Nozick states, â€Å"There is no contact with any deeper reality, though the experience of it can be simulated†. This statement explains that humans need to experience a connection with reality because it has importance to all of our lives. By humans agreeing to be plugged into this machine, they are indeed giving up who they are, which in reality is giving up your life. This idea of choosing illusion over reality truly is a form ofShow MoreRelatedEssay on Robert Nozicks Experience Machine1074 Words   |  5 PagesGood experiences are something that we spend our life constantly striving to obtain. Once we gain these good experiences, we look for the next opportunity in order to gain that same great feeling that we had in our last experience. What if someone told you that there was a way to have these g ood experiences all the time? You could quite literally plug yourself into a machine that would give you the great experiences that you have been searching for your whole life. The best part is that, once youRead MoreRobert Nozicks Experiment, The Experience Machine and the Inclusion of Meta-Pleasure722 Words   |  3 PagesThe Experience Machine and the Inclusion of Meta-Pleasure Robert Nozick is a philosopher who seeks to disprove the utilitarian notion of hedonism through a thought experiment that he has entitles â€Å"The Experience Machine† (Nozick 646). I will first explain the concept of utilitarianism and hedonism, then the experience machine before I give a reply about the inclusion of a third category of pleasure which I have called â€Å"meta-pleasure†. Finally, I will show how technology may be disproving the entireRead MoreHappiness By Robert Nozick1500 Words   |  6 PagesLife, philosopher Robert Nozick lists three conceptions of happiness, which he calls the ‘three forms of happiness’ (Nozick, p. 108). 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