The synopsis of The Matrix and the readings of Plato and Descartes all have similarities and differences. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One thing that all three of these writings have in common is the topic. The synopsis of The Matrix and the readings of Plato and Descartes all discuss the topic of reality. They address the concept of whether what you have experienced through your senses in daily life is accurate, or truly reality, or whether it is all just an illusion or a trick. One way in which these three sources differ is in how they address this problem of reality. In the synopsis of The Matrix, the main character Neo discovers that all people do not experience reality (“Synopsis: The Matrix”). Rather, their bodies are kept alive inside machines and a large computer transmits information to their brains through wires that make them experience sights, sounds, tastes and more to make people believe that they are living and experiencing these things when they're not actually doing that (“Synopsis: The Matrix”). In Plato's Republic, men are chained in a cave ("The Allegory of..."). For this reason they only see reflections on the cave wall (of people, animals, etc.) ("'The Allegory of..."). Because this is all they see, this is their reality, when truly there is a whole world and other living beings right outside the cave if only they could see or get out of the cave ("'The Allegory of...") . Both The Matrix and Plato's writings assume the concept of reality in relation to the senses and the information we receive thanks to them. Descartes takes a different approach. In the Meditations on Philosophy before Descartes, Descartes considers the dream. He talks about how the dream seems so real and wonders what if the dream seems real and isn't, what if real life seems real but isn't actually (“'Meditation I of Things...)? Descartes approaches the concept of reality in relation to dreams rather than to people's senses. While all three of these sources address the topic of reality, they do not necessarily address it in the same way. Another reason why these writings are all different is the time period in which they were written. Plato's Republic was written between 514A1 and 518D8, Descartes' Meditations on Philosophy before Descartes was written in 1641, and the film The Matrix came out in 1999. These sources all come from strikingly different time periods, but still address the same common question as reality (as discussed above). Although the time periods during which these pieces were created are so strikingly different, it demonstrates how prevalent and timeless the discussion of reality is. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Customize Essay After reading these sources, you may wonder: How can we prove that the world we are experiencing is real? Fundamentally, this question is about skepticism. James K. Dew Jr. and Mark W. Foreman discuss the topic of skepticism in their book “How Do We Know?” (2014). In their book they discuss and find flaws in different skeptical approaches. Dew and Foreman acknowledge that skeptical views raise points worth discussing, but conclude that “postmodern philosophers are overstating their case and drawing illogical conclusions” (Dew & Foreman, 2014, p. 58). They state that: “Although it is always possible that our statements about the world are not perfectly accurate, it is foolish to claim that there can be no correspondence between statements and reality” (Dew & Foreman, 2014, p. 58). . According to the discussions and conclusions reached by Dew e.