Page "Anarchy, State, and Utopia" Paragraph 20

Nozick supports the side-constraint view against classical utilitarianism and the idea that only felt experience matters by introducing the famous Experience Machine thought experiment.

It induces whatever illusory experience one might wish, but it prevents the subject from doing anything or making contact with anything.

There is only pre-programmed neural stimulation sufficient for the illusion.

Nozick pumps the intuition that each of us has a reason to avoid plugging into the Experience Machine forever.

This is not to say that " plugging in " might not be the best all-things-considered choice for some who are terminally ill and in great pain.

The point of the thought experiment is to articulate a weighty reason not to plug in, a reason that should not be there if all that matters is felt experience.