Inception and Philosophy
Alexa Shaba
Prof. Cooper
4/19/13
Final Paper
“Inception” The Movie
The movie Inception is about a man named Dom Cobb whom him and his friends enter into dreams to put ideas into Cobbs mind. In order for all of this to work, the dreamer must be in a deep stage of sleep. Cobb and his friends make a three-layered dream within a dream where they can disguise themselves as part of the dreamers dream. Throughout the movie we find that Cobb and his wife have before gone through he three-layers of the dreams and they grew old in their dream life. The only way Cobb could escape it though was to convince his wife that they weren’t in reality. When his wife woke up she still though she was dreaming so in order for her to try escaping she ended up killing herself.
In philosophy, Descartes tells us that we cannot dream what we have not yet experienced. Which is why in the film, the dreamers who created the three-layered levels in the dream used pieces of places that they were familiar to. Philosophers would say that we cannot create anything new in our thoughts but we can combine experiences and ideas which are already understandable to us.
Later on, many who watch this movie think to themselves, is the whole film a dream of Cobb’s? Unfortunately, no one finds out if this was all a dream or not because at the end of the movie the top spinner gets spun by Cobb and then the movie ends so nobody knows if this was all a dream or not.
Descartes also states that the only thing we know for sure in the state of doubt is our own thoughts and the knowledge of God, which knowledge he uses to escape skepticism.
Descartes says that in dream, we create things that may not exist just like painters but that the colors or shapes we use to create those things surely do exist. This movie relates perfectly to Descartes’ thoughts about dreams and
Prof. Cooper
4/19/13
Final Paper
“Inception” The Movie
The movie Inception is about a man named Dom Cobb whom him and his friends enter into dreams to put ideas into Cobbs mind. In order for all of this to work, the dreamer must be in a deep stage of sleep. Cobb and his friends make a three-layered dream within a dream where they can disguise themselves as part of the dreamers dream. Throughout the movie we find that Cobb and his wife have before gone through he three-layers of the dreams and they grew old in their dream life. The only way Cobb could escape it though was to convince his wife that they weren’t in reality. When his wife woke up she still though she was dreaming so in order for her to try escaping she ended up killing herself.
In philosophy, Descartes tells us that we cannot dream what we have not yet experienced. Which is why in the film, the dreamers who created the three-layered levels in the dream used pieces of places that they were familiar to. Philosophers would say that we cannot create anything new in our thoughts but we can combine experiences and ideas which are already understandable to us.
Later on, many who watch this movie think to themselves, is the whole film a dream of Cobb’s? Unfortunately, no one finds out if this was all a dream or not because at the end of the movie the top spinner gets spun by Cobb and then the movie ends so nobody knows if this was all a dream or not.
Descartes also states that the only thing we know for sure in the state of doubt is our own thoughts and the knowledge of God, which knowledge he uses to escape skepticism.
Descartes says that in dream, we create things that may not exist just like painters but that the colors or shapes we use to create those things surely do exist. This movie relates perfectly to Descartes’ thoughts about dreams and