Crash Course Philosophy 5: The Matrix and Descartes

What is the main philosophical question raised by the movie The Matrix?

• Is time travel possible?

• Can humans live forever?

• Is our reality an illusion?

• Can machines have emotions?

Who is considered the original 'Neo' in the context of battling the matrix of illusion?

• Bertrand Russell

• Rene Descartes

• Socrates

• Plato

What is the term for the study of knowledge in philosophy?

• Epistemology

• Ethics

• Ontology

• Metaphysics

What analogy did Descartes use to describe his method of doubting all beliefs?

• A house of cards

• A tree with rotten roots

• A broken mirror

• A basket of apples

What did Descartes conclude about the reliability of our senses?

• They are always reliable

• They never fail us

• They can often deceive us

• They are the only source of true knowledge

What is the term for doubts about a particular sense experience or occurrence at a specific time?

• Global doubts

• Local doubts

• Empirical doubts

• Skeptical doubts

What is the Five Minute Hypothesis proposed by Bertrand Russell?

• Time is an illusion lasting only five minutes

• The universe will end in five minutes

• Humans can only remember the last five minutes

• The universe was created five minutes ago with pre-worn elements

What did Descartes propose as a possible deceiver of our beliefs?

• A wise philosopher

• A powerful machine

• An Evil Genius

• A benevolent God

What famous phrase did Descartes coin to express his realization of his own existence?

• Eureka

• Veni, vidi, vici

• Carpe diem

• Cogito ergo sum

What did Descartes ultimately conclude about the existence of the physical world?

• It does not exist

• It is an illusion

• It actually exists

• It is unknowable