Posts Tagged hedonism

Inception (and the experience machine, utilitarianism, and existentialism)

SelfAwarePattern’s post from the other day on the problem of solipsism got me thinking about (my favorite solipsistic movie – no apologies to fans of the Matrix) Inception, and its tension with a thought experiment meant to undermine hedonistic utilitarianism posited by Robert Nozick. The Experience Machine Nozick asks us to consider whether we would […]

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American Hustle (and hedonism, lying, and the American Dream)

I recently saw “American Hustle”, a Hollywood picture about FBI agents staging sting operations to convict politicians of corruption charges, aided by a con-artist making good on a plea-bargain, played masterfully by Christian Bale. I became convinced Bale was a fantastic actor by his stellar performance in “The Fighter”, wherein he plays the wry and […]

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