From The Elements of Justice: Robert Nozick’s “Experience Machine” lets us plug our brains into a computer programmed to make us think we are living the best life possible. The life we think we are living is a computer-induced dream, but we do not know that. Whatever experience would be part of our felt experience. [...]

Tags: desert, difference principle, distributive justice, Experience Machine, Nozick, philosophy, Rawls, Schmidtz
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Back in March, Tyler Cowen encouraged bloggers to list the books that most influenced them. I didn’t think I could come up with a list that was a) plausible and b) would make me look cool, so I did not participate. But I enjoyed reading other people’s lists, and I noted, along with Steve Landsburg, [...]

Tags: abortion, Cowen, Landsburg, Parfit, philosophy, Reasons and Persons, Repugnant Conclusion, utilitarianism, utility monster
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