Comparing the Views of Plato, Descartes, and the Themes of...

Plato, Descartes and the Matrix Every philosopher seems to be more concerned with constitutes reality than any other factor. When different ones were discussing the law, mathematics, science they were still trying to nail down reality to their satisfaction and determine what it is and whether it truly exists the way people have always believe that it does. Descartes for example was a noted mathematician who is still studied to this day. All three snippets are looking at whether reality, actual reality, is better than some perception, and again if there truly is a separate reality. One thing Descartes says makes it sound impossible that there is not some form of reality. The fact that peoples minds have somehow conjured the same trees, buildings, sun, etc. say that, in some way they do exist. It could be that they exist in a Matrix or Socrates Cave sort of world, but they do exist, or, at the very least, they have existed at one time. So, either every person on the planet is under some sort of illusion, a la the Ma trix, or what people see is the truth. The Cave Allegory offers another perspective that is a constant in the Matrix. Socrates imagined an individual escaping the cave and, for a little while, wanting to go back to the former state because that is what reality had become. Eventually, the individual wanted to go back and free the others and tell them that their version of reality was not true. The similarity between this and the Matrix is that once most