The 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 “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 “meta-pleasure”. Finally, I will show how technology may be disproving the entire
Throughout history, pleasure has been the main goal that drives society. Pleasure can be described as an accomplishment or satisfaction of physical, intellectual, or spiritual desires. Hedonism, which is the view that sees pleasure as the only thing worth pursuing for its own sake, and that everything else is worth pursuing as long as it leads to pleasure. This view appears to be accurate since; everything that a person could ever want is for some thing to fulfill their desires. A philosopher named
In the textbook, the authors discuss Freud’s psychoanalytic theory in which, according to Freud, individuals acted out their desires and behaviors in response to a mental system made up of the ego, superego, and id (Cervone & Pervin, 2013). The ego seeks reality. On one hand the ego wants to meet the desires of the id, but at the same time the ego also wants to satisfy the demands of the superego. The superego controls the moral and social acceptable aspects of an individual’s behavior. The id is
it to a few philosophical ideas. The first connection I made to was hedonism then epicureanism, stoicism, free will and existentialism. The quote made me question, are we truly happy or do we adapt to our life and think we are happy. There are two accounts of happiness: hedonism and life satisfaction theory. Life satisfaction theorist suggest that although we say we are happy, our behavior says different. In philosophy hedonism says the pursuit of one’s own pleasure should be the aim of all happiness
requires partiality – and Utilitarianism – an act that requires impartiality - cannot coexist. This raises problems for the utilitarian because many persons would agree that friendship serves an integral function in any human life. It seems that no ethical framework should require persons to forgo anything central to our understanding of life as Utilitarianism might. A person who wholly espouses Utilitarianism cannot serve as a good friend because the two contradict each other. Utilitarianism requires
The concept of morality and moral “rules and laws” has as its corollary, the concept of “rule-breaking” or acting immorally. A common response to immoral behavior is punishments, which leads me to ask the question: how is punishment justified? In his article “The Classic Debate”, American legal philosopher Joel Feinberg lays out the main points of discourse between the two major theories of justified punishment, which I will deconstruct. Feinberg asserts that there are two main theories used to justify
Nimish Garg Hobbes’s Undeniable Defense of Self-Interest as The Human Catalyst In Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan, Hobbes argues that humans are inherently and exclusively self-interested (6). Before they formed society, humans lived in the state of nature--a brutal place governed by no laws, contracts, or power to restrict human nature. People were free to kill each other without facing repercussions, forcing everyone to fend for themselves and live in fear of death. Hobbes describes this anarchy as
The principal Doctrines, are written by Epicurus who lived from 341B.C. to 270 B.C. His theory is hedonism, which is rooted in pleasure. The book speaks of pain as being only temporary, and that it is only a pleasure over pain (V). This is a way of life to see the pleasures that life offers are what Epicurus is saying. And although, “no Pleasure is a bad thing in itself,” The results of obtaining the pleasure can bring greater displeasures (VIII). He is looking for the most pleasures one can get
Utilitarianism is a very demanding ethical theory that is revolved around benefiting the majority rather than an individual. Utilitarianism states that the best action is to maximize utility. It focuses on the result or the consequences of our actions, and treats intentions of an action as irrelevant. Sometimes you may not benefit as much as you would if you were making a decision for yourself for example if you really wanted to see the new Thor movie but some other people wanted to see the new horror
Over time, the actions of mankind have been the victim of two vague labels, right and wrong. The criteria for these labels are not clearly defined, but they still seem to be the standard by which the actions of man are judged. There are some people that abide by a deontological view when it comes to judging the nature of actions; the deontological view holds that it is a person's intention that makes an action right or wrong. On the other hand there is the teleological view which holds that it is