Robert Nozick is a famous American philosopher widely known for his Anarchy, State and Utopia book. His works were designated to the existence of minimal state and libertarianism. However, in this essay I will talk about his view over hedonism. According to hedonism, pleasure is the highest good and only pleasure could increase the well-being of society. So, in Anarchy, State and Utopia, Nozick makes thought experiment in order to defeat hedonism and prove that there is something more significant than pleasure.
According to this thought experiment, you were given a chance to use experience machine, which will give you any experience you want. For instance, you would have a sensation of painting a masterpiece or climbing the mountains and etc. …show more content…
Consequently, there arises question of whether to hook up to this machine or not. Nozick says that there are three things which go beyond the feeling of experience. The first one is the desire to do things, not just experience it. In my opinion, most of people really do enjoy the process of doing things. As for me, I adore the process of cooking; cutting the vegetables, meat; mixing all tastes together. And when I eat the meal which I cooked, it eventually gives me the experience of satisfaction. However, if I used the experience machine just for the sensation of delicious food, it would not give me full satisfaction. The second reason for not plugging into the experience machine is that we want to be a certain kind of people with their own views on life, having different abilities and skills. According to Nozick, when we plug into the experience machine we commit something like suicide. More or less, I agree with this argument because when plugging into the machine you deprive yourself from your free will, everything that you would experience was programmed beforehand. The third one is that it limits our reality. The reason for that is that because everything was programmed beforehand, the things that you can make are limited. In reality you could
According to this thought experiment, you were given a chance to use experience machine, which will give you any experience you want. For instance, you would have a sensation of painting a masterpiece or climbing the mountains and etc. …show more content…
Consequently, there arises question of whether to hook up to this machine or not. Nozick says that there are three things which go beyond the feeling of experience. The first one is the desire to do things, not just experience it. In my opinion, most of people really do enjoy the process of doing things. As for me, I adore the process of cooking; cutting the vegetables, meat; mixing all tastes together. And when I eat the meal which I cooked, it eventually gives me the experience of satisfaction. However, if I used the experience machine just for the sensation of delicious food, it would not give me full satisfaction. The second reason for not plugging into the experience machine is that we want to be a certain kind of people with their own views on life, having different abilities and skills. According to Nozick, when we plug into the experience machine we commit something like suicide. More or less, I agree with this argument because when plugging into the machine you deprive yourself from your free will, everything that you would experience was programmed beforehand. The third one is that it limits our reality. The reason for that is that because everything was programmed beforehand, the things that you can make are limited. In reality you could