 These kinds of stand-off in moral philosophy are unfortunate, but should not be brushed aside (for a balanced discussion of the experience machine, see Lin 2016). They raise questions concerning the epistemology of ethics, and the source and epistemic status of our deepest ethical beliefs, which we are further from answering than many would like to think. Certainly the current trend of quickly dismissing hedonism on the basis of a quick run-through of the experience machine objection is not methodologically sound.