The essay
: In 3-4 pages total
(1,200 words minimum),
write an essay or dialoguethat handles the following scenario and subsequent questions:
You wake up one morning in a strange place, partly underground. A cheery little person says, “Good morning, Frodo!” You reply that you are not Frodo, but rather a student at CUAA. But the cheery fellow—Bilbo—continues to refer to you as Frodo. You check around the place—Bag End—and soon realize that you are not in New Zealand, but in Middle Earth. Later that day, Gandalf comes to visit, and you say, “What’s happening? I used to be a student, and now I seem to be a hobbit.” Gandalf says, “In truth, you do not really exist: you are just a character in a story, no more real than Snow White or Spiderman.” You find this upsetting, but do seem to remember reading Descartes’Meditations on First Philosophy.
(a) How will you show Gandalf that youknowyou exist? It is important to first clarify the proper definition of “knowledge.” Both Plato and Descartes are helpful on this.
(b) What kind of being will you be able to show that youknowyou are?
Augustine and Descartes are both helpful in combatting skepticism.
(c) Are there limitations on what your argument can show? For example, can you show youknowyou have a body or used to be a student at CUW?
Why / why not?
Have footnotes