Pleasure can often times be the driving motive for the actions of an individual seeking a good, successful experience of life. Though it is not always as simple as making the choice that will bring you immediate joy; one must weigh out the different choices that they make and how these choices affect their paths towards their future. Sometimes, this can mean giving up one pleasure for another that you may find more rewarding and meaningful to you. Making these difficult decisions can torture and consume the mind of an individual, but repressing these feelings is necessary to gain fulfillment—pain for pleasure. In The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro, an English butler, Mr. Stevens, faces the difficult choice of pursuing the one he loves,
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Robert Nozick, a professor of philosophy at Harvard University, argues against the idea of Hedonism: that our sole value is not just to seek pleasure, but also to become a certain sort of person. He uses the idea of an “Experience Machine” to disprove the ideas of Epicurus and other hedonists. Entering the experience machine allows for one to choose their desired experience; plug in, and let life play out as you experience it, but it is not actually you doing these things and growing as a person; you are the one that is “…floating in a tank [as] an indeterminate blob” (Nozick 645). For these reasons, I, as well as Nozick, would presume that most people would choose not to enter the experience machine, and instead live your life and face the obstacles in the world as your true self. Assuming this premise to be true, we can conclude that pleasure is not our sole value, invalidating the ideas of Epicurus. Nozick’s views on the approach to a happy life would lead him to believe that Steven’s should not suppress his feelings toward Ms. Kenton, and instead experience the feeling of love for himself. In his current state, Steven’s has one goal: become a great butler. It is the only experience that he yearns for, although I do not believe that he is happy with that being his only identity. Nozick would argue that in order to truly find happiness, he must stray away from the identity given to him by his father, and become his own self, in order to live with little regret of what he didn’t experience in
Robert Nozick, a professor of philosophy at Harvard University, argues against the idea of Hedonism: that our sole value is not just to seek pleasure, but also to become a certain sort of person. He uses the idea of an “Experience Machine” to disprove the ideas of Epicurus and other hedonists. Entering the experience machine allows for one to choose their desired experience; plug in, and let life play out as you experience it, but it is not actually you doing these things and growing as a person; you are the one that is “…floating in a tank [as] an indeterminate blob” (Nozick 645). For these reasons, I, as well as Nozick, would presume that most people would choose not to enter the experience machine, and instead live your life and face the obstacles in the world as your true self. Assuming this premise to be true, we can conclude that pleasure is not our sole value, invalidating the ideas of Epicurus. Nozick’s views on the approach to a happy life would lead him to believe that Steven’s should not suppress his feelings toward Ms. Kenton, and instead experience the feeling of love for himself. In his current state, Steven’s has one goal: become a great butler. It is the only experience that he yearns for, although I do not believe that he is happy with that being his only identity. Nozick would argue that in order to truly find happiness, he must stray away from the identity given to him by his father, and become his own self, in order to live with little regret of what he didn’t experience in