Brave New World Essay Example
Brave New World Essay
“Everybody’s happy nowadays”, says the hypnopaedic suggestion. What is happiness? Happiness in the Brave New World is equivalent to experiencing pleasure, comfort and an even temper. Put simply, is happiness the experience of pleasure? Respond with reference to Brave New World, Robert Nozick’s pleasure machine and Nietzsche’s arguments on what it is to live a good life.
The Utopia of the future- something every human seemingly wants, but is it worth it to throw away everything for happiness and live in a world where there is no freedom or individuality? In Aldous Huxley's satirical novel, "Brave New World," this world, polished and regulated to perfection, is a reality. In this Utopia, people like Bernard Marx, an intelligent and adverse Alpha, the highest class of humans, are conditioned to worship the Great Ford, to believe everything the Controllers say, to amuse themselves with sports, "feelies" and non-utilitarian relationships and, most of all, to take soma, a drug simulating happiness, whenever a problem should arise. No one feels, no one reads or experiences art, no one discovers, no one cries, no one grows old, no one feels pain or fear and absolutely no one is unhappy, or so it seems.
Happiness is defined as “the quality or state of being happy” or “good fortune; pleasure; contentment and joy”. In Brave New World the citizens are handed happiness and pleasure on a plate; even literally some times, and they do not work hard or endure pain or suffering to achieve this happiness or pleasure. This is where Nietzsche’s beliefs differ. Nietzsche believed that pain, suffering and hardship were all mandatory in achieving happiness in life. He believed that to attain true happiness that we needed to suffer and endure pain so for example when we do accomplish a goal then we will feel truly happy and feel that we have achieved something. Nietzsche would not have approved of Brave New World as they are an example of Nozick’s pleasure machine.
“Everybody’s happy nowadays”, says the hypnopaedic suggestion. What is happiness? Happiness in the Brave New World is equivalent to experiencing pleasure, comfort and an even temper. Put simply, is happiness the experience of pleasure? Respond with reference to Brave New World, Robert Nozick’s pleasure machine and Nietzsche’s arguments on what it is to live a good life.
The Utopia of the future- something every human seemingly wants, but is it worth it to throw away everything for happiness and live in a world where there is no freedom or individuality? In Aldous Huxley's satirical novel, "Brave New World," this world, polished and regulated to perfection, is a reality. In this Utopia, people like Bernard Marx, an intelligent and adverse Alpha, the highest class of humans, are conditioned to worship the Great Ford, to believe everything the Controllers say, to amuse themselves with sports, "feelies" and non-utilitarian relationships and, most of all, to take soma, a drug simulating happiness, whenever a problem should arise. No one feels, no one reads or experiences art, no one discovers, no one cries, no one grows old, no one feels pain or fear and absolutely no one is unhappy, or so it seems.
Happiness is defined as “the quality or state of being happy” or “good fortune; pleasure; contentment and joy”. In Brave New World the citizens are handed happiness and pleasure on a plate; even literally some times, and they do not work hard or endure pain or suffering to achieve this happiness or pleasure. This is where Nietzsche’s beliefs differ. Nietzsche believed that pain, suffering and hardship were all mandatory in achieving happiness in life. He believed that to attain true happiness that we needed to suffer and endure pain so for example when we do accomplish a goal then we will feel truly happy and feel that we have achieved something. Nietzsche would not have approved of Brave New World as they are an example of Nozick’s pleasure machine.