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Rene Descartes 'Dualism In The Matrix'

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Rene Descartes 'Dualism In The Matrix'
Md, Muzahid
Mrs. Tourout, L.
HZT4U1-02
13-10-13
Philosophy Paper

The theory of dualism by Rene Descartes is shown in the movie "The Matrix". Descartes ' quoted "I think, therefore I am" defines that the proof of one 's existence is in the observation of what they thought, if one can think, he/she exists. The theory of dualism states that humans are made up of two substances, a material body and an immaterial mind, or "soul". Since the mind and body interact, there must be a contact between the two. An example of the theory is shown in the movie when the protagonist Neo is interacting in the Matrix, when Neo gets injured in the Matrix world, the real world Neo also gets affected. The avatar of Neo …show more content…
When Neo questions about this matter to Morpheus, he states "your mind makes it real". To explain what Morpheus stated, Neo is physically in the real world, and also in the matrix world but their mind are the same. When the avatar gets affected in the matrix world, the mind makes you feel the experience in the real world also. Descartes believes in what he sees and feels while dreaming, he do not trust his senses to tell him that he is not still dreaming. He do not trust his senses and believes that the world is being controlled by an omniscient figure. That theory or belief is greatly exemplified in "The Matrix", the matrix is a virtual world created by omniscient figure, in this case they are artificial intelligence. Descartes states that he cannot trust the senses because one might be controlled. In "The Matrix", Morpheus explains that "if the five senses is what makes reality, then reality is only the electric signals that is sent to our mind to experience the senses. This process of experiences senses
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