William Hong
E&P Reflection – The Experience Machine
The experience machine thought experiment was proposed by Robert Nozick in 1974 as a
rejection to hedonism, that is the view that happiness is means to experience pleasurable
feelings. Nozick insists that if hedonism were true, then it would only be right to plug into the
machine to only experience the most pleasurable feelings, since all that matters about life
are our feelings. However, Nozick believes otherwise. Bramble (2016) simplifies Nozick’s
objection as
1. Plugging into the machine would not be best for one.
2. Hedonism entails that plugging in would be best for one.
3. Therefore, hedonism is false.
Nozick justifies his objection with 3 reasons. The first is that we wish to ‘do’ certain things,
the second is that we wish to ‘be’ a certain way (e.g., experiencing the release of a great
poem does not mean that any actual humans will admire it, they will still see the
‘indeterminate blob’ floating in the tank). Nozick states, in The Examined Life (1989), that the
experience machine is unable to give us what we desire in the first place. Bramble (2016)
would also point out that the experience machine may reject hedonism and accept desirebased theories of wellbeing. Since we desire for actualities, the machine does not exactly
grant those desires therefore we choose not to plug in. Thirdly, the machine limits the
subject to a man-made reality, where it may be unable to construct deeper realities that
could be formed out of the machine (e.g., state of Nirvana).
Nozick would seem to make to make the connection to reality the standard for whether one
should connect to the machine. “We want to be importantly connected to reality, not to live in
a delusion”, Nozick states. By plugging into the machine, beliefs, emotion, relationships do
not hold and no longer matter. Ultimately, Nozick refutes hedonism through his experiment
by saying that there is more to life than seeking the most pleasure feelings, and to live one’s
life and have its actualities matter for oneself.
What could be the sound reasons for plugging in then? Preference utilitarianism is a theory
that values actions which fulfils the best interests, or preferences, of the people involved.
Preferentialism would hold that someone should stay connected to the machine as they
prefer the reality granted to them, or that they simply prefer to experience the most
pleasurable feelings.
Upon learning about the machine and reflecting on the research related to hedonism and
Nozick’s work, I would not plug into the machine to live in another reality. My reasons are
that the concept is off-putting, alien, and somewhat dystopic. I also think of the happiness of
those closest around me if I should plug in, and causing sadness is not preferable. Leaving
reality seems like some form of death (even if it would be brief).
William Hong
Reference List
Bramble, B. (2016) The Experience Machine. Philosophy Compass, 11: 136-145. doi:
10.1111/phc3.12303.
Nozick. (1974). Anarchy, state, and utopia. Basic Books.
Nozick. (1989). The examined life: philosophical meditations. Simon and Schuster.