Experience Machine is one of the best known attempts to refute ethical hedonism, and does so by imagining a choice between everyday reality and an apparently preferable simulated reality. It is a view held by many value theorists, but most famously by some classical utilitarians. It is only the hedonic quality of experience that ultimately matters for well-being or prudential value. Experience Machine produces the perfect illusion of leading whatever kind of life one desires, while one floats about in a tank.
Experience Machine
